The fraud unit has a reported $90 million budget and employs more than 650 full-time staff members. Although the office collected more than $1 million from fraud investigations, it actually ended up losing more than that after a judge ordered the state of New York to return the fines paid by a Queens, N.Y., alcohol treatment center.
Despite the 2009 losses, officials point to the $100 million recovered last year through Medicaid violations, which were often clerical errors rather than real cases of healthcare fraud. Critics of the inspector general office say the 2009 losses “indicate a lack of vigilance over the nation’s most expensive Medicaid program,” according to the news report.
Read the news report about New York Medicaid.
Read other coverage about Medicaid fraud:
– Anti-Fraud Efforts Reap $4B in Recoveries
– Medicaid Payments to Maryland Clinic Halted on Suspicion of Healthcare Fraud
– Government Files Lawsuit Against New York City for Alleged Medicaid Fraud
