Sen. Carper Commends Administration Launch of Public-Private Partnership to Fight Health Care Fraud

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, commended the Obama Administration’s launch of a national partnership among the federal government, state officials, several leading private health insurance organizations, and other health care anti-fraud groups to prevent health care fraud. The National Fraud Prevention Partnership, announced Thursday by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder, is a voluntary, collaborative arrangement between public and private organizations, and supports the Administration’s efforts to combat health care fraud and better protect taxpayers and consumers.

“I commend the Administration’s ongoing efforts to fight waste, fraud and abuse throughout the federal government, but particularly within our nation’s health care system. During a hearing of my Senate oversight subcommittee last year, it became clear that the same costly fraud that we see in Medicare and Medicaid is also perpetrated against private sector health care systems, often by the same criminals. While there’s no silver bullet to stop the criminals who commit health care fraud, there are a number of proven and effective preventive measures that can help curb these crimes. This new public-private partnership is another important step forward in our ongoing efforts to reduce waste and fraud throughout our health care system. By bringing together the private sector and federal and state law enforcement, we can share fraud information and spot fraud rings trying to take advantage of patients, private companies, Medicaid, and Medicare. The National Fraud Prevention Partnership is the latest in a series of steps taken by the Obama Administration to implement common-sense strategies to stop fraud and lower health care costs for everyone. I will continue to work with the Administration and our partners in the private sector on additional steps to protect taxpayer dollars and improve our nation’s health care system.”