Posted on 07/21/2005 7:26:38 AM PDT by cyborg
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer called on state lawmakers yesterday to return to Albany to pass two bills that he said were urgently needed to help prosecute fraud in the state's Medicaid system. Skip to next paragraph Related As Medicaid Balloons, Watchdog Force Shrinks (July 19, 2005) New York Medicaid Fraud May Reach Into Billions (July 18, 2005)
In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Mr. Spitzer said the state needed a false claims act, which would increase civil penalties for fraud and encourage whistle-blowers, along with another law that would create a new category of crimes specific to health care. He said he had urged the passage of such bills in the past without success.
"Now with attention focused on the issue would be an opportune time for the Senate and the Assembly to embrace them," he said, referring to two articles published this week in The New York Times that said billions of dollars were potentially being squandered in New York's $44.5 billion Medicaid program because of fraud, waste and profiteering.
On Tuesday, in reaction to the findings, Gov. George E. Pataki announced plans to overhaul Medicaid's oversight system through an executive order creating an independent inspector general's office to focus on fraud.
In a telephone interview, Mr. Spitzer applauded the governor's proposal.
The false claims act, which is modeled after a federal version of the law, has two main provisions. The first allows the state to sue a Medicaid thief for triple the amount that was stolen, which Mr. Spitzer said would be a boon for financial recoveries to the state. The second allows whistle-blowers to be awarded part of the money won by the state.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
rorahpg 191919
Hmm. Conflicted.
Spitzer is a headline-seeking opportunist. But so long as we have a Medicaid system, we have to come down hard on people who defraud it.
Very conflicted.
I agree with you. Tough to agree with him knowing he's a scumbucket lens lice like Chuck Schumer.
Hey, even a broken clock, right?
I still don't trust him. He's doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.
My opinion of the very questionable Mr. Spitzer was actually improving as I read this article (it had nowhere to go but up) till I got to this part. Something tells me that in practice, if cases of medicare fraud move a lot of money into state coffers, there will be discovered a vast, previously unknown problem with Medicare fraud. Even to the point that many cases will fail the common sense / smell test definition of "fraud".
Thinkill get roun 2 the EDUKASHUN fraud by the unions in NYC?
I'm guessing...not till next century :-)
According to Spitzer, only certain people can STEAL , the others go to jail !!
He is aPhony !
BTTT
Going after Medicaid fraud is like looking for a liberal in the press.
They are everywhere.
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