House Passes Herger Bill Cracking Down On Medicare Fraud
Press Release
House Passes Herger Bill Cracking Down On Medicare Fraud
Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, today praised House passage of H.R. 6130, the Strengthening Medicare Anti-Fraud Measures Act. The bill, a bipartisan effort, passed by voice vote and now awaits action in the Senate.
The legislation expands the authority of the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) to allow it to ban corporate executives from doing business with Medicare if their companies were convicted of fraud. It also gives the OIG the ability to exclude parent companies that may be committing fraud through shell companies.
Ranking Member Herger said, "I'm pleased that the House has taken OIG's requested steps to close these loopholes that have allowed perpetrators of Medicare fraud a way to stay in business. With these additional tools OIG will be better able to stop those individuals who commit fraud but who have been able to stay one step ahead of law enforcement, saving taxpayer dollars and protecting seniors. Medicare fraud is a crime that hurts senior citizens, law-abiding health care providers, and every American who pays taxes."
Herger, along with the Chairman of the Health Subcommittee, introduced the bill with bipartisan support last Wednesday after holding a hearing in June on fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare program. At this hearing, the Chief Counsel for the OIG asked members of the Ways and Means Committee for this new authority. For more information on this hearing, please visit: http://go.usa.gov/xDC
The legislation addresses two gaps that exist in fighting Medicare fraud:
* Executives from companies that are convicted of fraud can be excluded from Medicare under current law. However, if the executive has left the company by the time of conviction, he or she cannot be barred from federal health programs. These executives are able to move from one company to another and continue to defraud Medicare, seniors, and taxpayers. H.R. 6130 would give the OIG the authority to ban these executives from doing business with Medicare.
* Companies that engage in fraud often set up shell companies to insulate themselves from liability. Criminal settlement negotiations can result in the dissolution of these shell organizations with no real penalty to the parent company. H.R. 6130 gives OIG the authority to exclude these parent companies from the Medicare program.
For the text of H.R. 6130, please visit: http://go.usa.gov/xZb
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