Government recovers billions in health fraud crackdown

The Obama administration announced Monday that it recovered a record $4.2 billion last year from medical providers who cheated Medicare and other government health programs.

Los Angeles Times: Government Says It Recovers Billions In Health Fraud Crackdown
The federal government recovered a record $4.2 billion in the last fiscal year from medical providers and others who fraudulently billed government healthcare programs such as Medicare, the Obama administration announced Monday (Levey, 2/11).

USA Today: Feds Recovered $4.2 Billion From Anti-Fraud Efforts
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said for every dollar spent on fraud and abuse in the past three years, the government brought $7.90 back in through lawsuits and fines. The 2010 health care law created one agency and expanded another to fight health care fraud, resulting in nine Medicare Fraud Strike Force Teams that sprouted up in areas particularly prone to Medicare fraud -- such as Texas and Florida (Kennedy, 2/12).

Reuters: U.S. Recovers $4.2 Billion From Healthcare Fraud Probes: Report
The Obama administration said on Monday that its efforts to combat fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs were paying off as the government recovered a record $4.2 billion in fiscal 2012 from individuals and companies trying to cheat the system (Kelly, 2/12).

Philadelphia Inquirer: Health-Care Fraud Cases Yield $4.2 Billion
In an era when pharmaceutical executives - like their brethren in banking - are under fire for paying fines too often instead of going to prison to settle allegations of wrongdoing, health care fraud investigations returned $4.2 billion to the nation's coffers last year, the U.S. government said Monday. For every $1 spent on investigations, the government got back $7.90 over the last three years, which is $2.50 higher than the rolling three-year average since the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program began in 1997, according to a joint report released by the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services. Settlements produced nearly $4.1 billion in 2011(Sell, 2/12).