Health Care Fraud Recoveries Up For First Half of FY 2010
The Inspector General’s Office for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS OIG) has recovered approximately $3.1 billion in health care funding that would have otherwise been lost to fraud or abuse during the first half of FY 2010, according to the latest Semi-Annual Report to Congress.
The report, which reviews the period from October 2009 to March 2010, discloses that HHS OIG has recovered $667.7 million in audit receivables and $2.5 billion in investigative receivables. These numbers represent a significant increase from the previous fiscal year, as detailed below.
FY 2009 (First Half) - $274.8M in audit receivables, $2.2B in investigative
FY 2009 (Second Half) - $217.2M in audit, $1.8B in investigative
FY 2010 (First Half) - $667.3M in audit, $2.5B in investigative
While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) allocates $250 million in increased funding to combat fraud and abuse over the next decade, the latest OIG report covers the period before PPACA’s enactment. Therefore, the new figures are a hopeful sign that OIG recovery effects are becoming increasingly effective.
