DOJ/HHS Step Up Health Care Fraud Enforcement By Announcing New Interagency Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team

May 20, 2009

Lead DOJ Health Care Fraud Enforcer Speaks In Dallas Tomorrow

The joint announcement today (May 20, 2009) by the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health & Human Services (HHS) of a new interagency team to combat health care fraud highlights the increasing need for health care providers and health plans to review and tighten their practices for dealing with Medicare and other federal programs to survive scrutiny under federal health care fraud initiatives.   Houston and Detroit are targeted for the attention of a new Strike Force.

Participants attending tomorrow’s Dallas Health Industry Council Southwest Healthcare Transaction Conference will get to hear the latest about these and other federal health care fraud prevention and enforcement activities from one of its key players. The Justice Department’s lead federal health care fraud prosecutor, John “Jay” S. Darden, the U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Chief for Healthcare Fraud is scheduled to provide an update on these and other federal regulatory and enforcement activities affecting health care transactions when he speaks at the Conference tomorrow afternoon at the Omni Mandalay Hotel Dallas at Las Colinas at 1:30 p.m.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the creation of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), to combat Medicare fraud and the expansion of Strike Force team operations to Detroit and Houston.  Medicare Fraud Strike Forces, currently in operation in South Florida and Los Angeles, fight Medicare fraud on a targeted local level.  Statements made by Secretary Sebelius and Attorney General Holder in connection with the announcement of HEAT and the Strike Force Expansion make clear that the Obama Administration views health care fraud enforcement and prevention as a key element of its efforts to control health care costs.

The HEAT team will include senior officials from DOJ and HHS who will build upon and strengthen existing programs to combat fraud while also investing new resources and technology to prevent fraud, waste and abuse before it happens.  Efforts will include the expansion of joint DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams that have been successfully fighting fraud in South Florida and Los Angeles. 

Established in 2007, these Strike Force teams have a proven record of success using a “data-driven” approach to identify unexplainable billing patterns and investigating these providers for possible fraudulent activity.  The Medicare Fraud Strike Force team operating in South Florida has already convicted 146 defendants and secured $186 million in criminal fines and civil recoveries.  After the success of operations in South Florida, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force expanded in May 2008 to phase two in Los Angeles, where 37 defendants have been charged with criminal health care fraud offenses.  To date in the Los Angeles cases, more than $55 million has been ordered in restitution to the Medicare program. 

In addition to health care fraud enforcement and prosecution, HHS and DOJ also view prevention as critical to reforming the system.  Therefore, in addition to investigating and prosecuting fraud, the HEAT team will also focus critical resources on preventing fraud from occurring in the first place.  These efforts are expected to include:

  • Drawing from demonstration projects by the HHS Inspector General and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that have focused on suppliers of durable medical equipment (DME) including increasing site visits to potential suppliers to prevent imposters from posing as legitimate DME providers. 
  • Increasing training for providers on Medicare compliance, offering providers the resources and the knowledge they need to help identify and prevent fraud.
  • Improving data sharing between CMS and law enforcement to help identify patterns that lead to fraud.
  • Strengthening program integrity activities to monitor and ensure Medicare Parts C (Medicare Advantage plans) and D (prescription drug programs) compliance and enforcement.

The Attorney General and the HHS Secretary also called on the American people to visit a new Web site http://www.hhs.gov/stopmedicarefraud or call 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477) to report suspected Medicare fraud.

The HEAT Team and Strike Force activities are part of a broader emphasis in the enforcement of federal health care fraud laws.  President Obama’s proposed Fiscal Year 2010 budget seeks to further increase funding for fraud prevention and enforcement by investing $311 million — a 50 percent increase from 2009 funding — to strengthen program integrity activities within the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  The Obama Administration anticipates that all combined, the anti-fraud efforts in the President’s budget could save $2.7 billion over five years by improving oversight and stopping fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including the Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug programs.

For More Information

We hope that this information is useful to you. If you need assistance responding to concerns about the matters discussed in this publication or other health care concerns, wish to obtain information about arranging for training or presentations by Ms. Stamer, wish to suggest a topic for a future program or update, or wish to request other information or materials, please contact Ms. Stamer via telephone at (214) 270-2402 or via e-mail to cstamer@CTTLegal.com.

You can review other recent updates and other publications by Ms. Stamer and other helpful health care resources and additional information about Ms. Stamer and her experience, see Stamer Health Industry Experience. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail- by creating or updating your profile at here or by registering to participate in the Solutions Law Press Health Care Update blog at Health Care Update Blog. For important information concerning this communication click here.    If you do not wish to receive these updates in the future, send an e-mail with the word “Remove” in the Subject to support@SolutionsLawyer.net.

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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

Sebelius Announces Key Personnel At New HHS Office of Health Reform

May 11, 2009

As the Obama Administration continues emphasis on health care reform, newly appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius today (May 11, 2009) announced the establishment of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Health Reform. to spearhead HHS efforts to pass urgently needed health reform this year and coordinate closely with the White House Office of Health Reform.  Both offices were created by an April 8 Executive Order to help deliver on one of President Obama’s top priorities.

The following key staff members have been appointed to the HHS Office of Health Reform:

 Jeanne Lambrew, Ph.D., Director of the HHS Office of Health Reform: Jeanne Lambrew will lead the health reform effort in the Office, helping the Secretary to marshal the experience and assets of the department.  Dr. Lambrew was previously an associate professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and worked on health policy in the Clinton Administration.

Michael Hash, Senior Advisor: Michael Hash will serve as a senior advisor, running the inter-agency process for developing specific aspects of health reform legislation consistent with the President’s priorities. He will be an assignee at the White House Office of Health Reform and assist in the preparation of Administration positions and in communication with the Congress.  Prior to his appointment, Hash held senior positions at the Health Care Financing Administration (now CMS) and on the staffs of the House Energy and Commerce Committee as well as a private health policy consulting firm.

 Neera Tanden, Senior Advisor: Neera Tanden will work on developing health care policies for HHS and the Administration.  She is the former domestic policy director for the Obama-Biden campaign and policy director for the Hillary Clinton campaign, and oversaw health care work on both campaigns.  She has worked in think tanks, in the Senate and in the Clinton Administration.

Linda Douglass, Director of Communications: Linda Douglass will serve as the director of communications in the Office of Health Reform, working as an assignee at the White House Office of Reform, coordinating communications.  Before joining the administration, Douglass was a traveling spokesperson for President Obama’s 2008 campaign and was chief spokesperson for the Presidential Inaugural Committee 2009.  She spent most of her career as a journalist, most recently as a managing editor for National Journal and prior to that as Chief Capitol Hill Correspondent for ABC News

 Meena Seshamani, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Policy Analysis:  Meena Seshamani will coordinate the quantitative and qualitative analyses on health reform conducted throughout HHS. Before joining the Administration, Dr. Seshamani was a resident physician in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins University. She is a health economist who has published widely on issues of health expenditures, health care financing, and their impact on health outcomes.  She advised Senator Kennedy on a range of issues including public health and prevention, community health centers, health professions training and health disparities. Lewis will begin work in the Office of Health Reform on May 25.

Jennifer Cannistra, Policy Analyst and Director of Special Projects:  Jennifer Cannistra will work as an assignee at the White House and will lead special projects undertaken by the HHS Office of Health Reform that require close coordination with the White House.  Previously, Cannistra served as the Pennsylvania State Policy Director for the Obama campaign.  Prior to joining Obama for America in September 2007, Cannistra served as a law clerk to the Honorable Faith S. Hochberg, D.N.J. and as an attorney in Washington, D.C.

Karen Richardson, Outreach Coordinator:  Karen Richardson will be responsible for conducting outreach to stakeholders on behalf of HHS, as an assignee at the White House Office, as it relates to advancing the President’s agenda for health reform.  She was previously the policy director at the Democratic National Committee (DNC).  She was policy director for Obama for America in Iowa and several states throughout the Presidential primary.   Richardson began working for President Obama at his Senate office in August 2005, beginning as an intern and then serving as deputy to the policy director.

Michael Halle, Special Assistant: Michael Halle will be responsible for coordinating office projects and activities as well as providing research assistance.  Halle worked for the Presidential Inaugural Committee and Obama for America, contributing to field operations in Iowa and North Carolina.  Prior to joining the Obama campaign he was an intern at the Center for American Progress with the health policy team.

 You can find more information about the evolving health care reform discussion and other health care policy and health care matters at CynthiaStamer.com.  If you need assistance monitoring health and managed care policy or other health care or health benefit matters, contact Cynthia Marcotte Stamer at (214) 270.2402, or cstamer@cttlegal.com.  To receive future Solutions Law Press Health Care Updates, register to participate in this Solution Law Press Health Care Update blog, register at CynthiaStamer.com or join the SLP Health Care Risk Management & Operations Group on linkedin.com.

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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

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