Legislators Targeting Healthcare Fraud in Health Reform Efforts

Current healthcare reform legislation includes provisions that would increase efforts to investigate Medicare and Medicaid fraud, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

This week Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and five other Democrats introduced legislation that would increase jail time for those convicted of healthcare fraud and would increase funds by $20 million annually to the government agencies investigating the fraud, according to the report.

Sen. Leahy urged other lawmakers at a hearing to "tackle the fraud that could undermine efforts to reduce the skyrocketing cost of healthcare," according to a report.

The United States loses around $60 billion annually, or nearly 10 percent of all healthcare spending, to healthcare fraud, according to the report.

Medicare, which spends $400 billion annually, reviews only 3 percent of claims and estimates that it spent $10 billion on improper claims during 2008, according the report.

In 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services collected $4 billion to recoup improper claims, according to the report. They also established a joint task force with the Department of Justice to focus on investigating fraud in areas, such as South Florida and Los Angeles, where fraud is more prevalent. HHS has requested $311 million, up from $198 million this fiscal year, to investigate fraud during the next fiscal year, according to the report.

Read the Wall Street Journal's report on healthcare fraud.

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