Proposed law targets Medicaid fraud
Published: 2010-06-14 10:16:50By: South Florida Business Journal | March 10, 2010
A bill introduced in the Florida Legislature would give the state’s attorney general more powers to fight Medicaid fraud.
The bill, SB 8, was introduced Tuesday by Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and Senator Joe Negron, R-Stuart, with the support of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.
The legislation would permit the attorney general’s office to investigate private managed care companies that administer Medicaid, which is a $2.4 billion component of the state’s Medicaid budget. Currently, that duty rests with the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud.
McCollum said his office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit recovered $198 million in improper payments last year.
“By giving us greater access to pursue managed care fraud, we will be able to ensure that more dollars go to Floridians in need rather than the pockets of criminals who exploit the system,” McCollum said in a news release.
The bill would create a Medicaid strike force within DFS that would have 11 agency heads from state government. It would make recommendations of ways to stop fraud to the state’s CFO.