[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 22 (Friday, February 11, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E209-E210]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FIGHTING MEDICARE FRAUD

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 11, 2011

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise with my colleague Ways and Means 
Health Subcommittee Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA) to re-introduce the 
Strengthening Medicare Anti-Fraud Measures Act.
  This bipartisan legislation is a direct byproduct of a joint hearing 
held by the Ways and Means Health and Oversight Subcommittees

[[Page E210]]

last year. The hearing was on efforts to reduce fraud, waste and abuse 
in Medicare.
  We heard testimony at that hearing from two panels of witnesses. The 
first panel consisted of Members of Congress pursuing legislative 
initiatives to reduce Medicare fraud, waste and abuse. The second panel 
was made up of government witnesses: Office of the Inspector General of 
the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG), The Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Government Accountability 
Office.
  Numerous witnesses raised concerns about limitations to the authority 
of the Office of the Inspector General to minimize Medicare fraud. From 
this discussion it became clear to Representative Herger and me that we 
should change the law in order provide the Inspector General with the 
additional requested tools to better protect Medicare.
  This is a simple bill with only two provisions. It expands the OIG's 
permissive authority to ban executives whose companies have been 
convicted of Medicare fraud from the program. Second, it expands the 
OIG's permissive authority to exclude affiliates of corporations 
convicted of fraud, including parent companies hiding behind convicted 
corporate shells.
  The first change is important because it will enable the OIG to 
protect Medicare from executives who circumvent exclusion by moving to 
another company. Under current law, executives whose companies are 
convicted of fraud can be excluded from Medicare. However, if the 
executive has left the company by the time of conviction, he or she 
cannot be barred from Federal health care programs. These executives 
are able to move from one company to another and continue to defraud 
Medicare, seniors, and taxpayers.
  The second change provides the OIG with stronger tools to address 
corporations that have engaged in fraud. Companies that engage in fraud 
often set up shell companies to insulate themselves from liability. 
Criminal settlement negotiations can result in the conviction of these 
shell organizations with no real operational impact on the parent 
company. Without discretionary authority to exclude parent companies 
from the program, the OIG is missing a tool in its arsenal that could 
allow the government to exclude particularly bad actors or obtain 
stronger prospective remedies in settlements.
  This legislation passed the House of Representatives last year by 
voice vote. Unfortunately, it was not taken up in the Senate. We urge 
our colleagues to cosponsor this bill so we can quickly enact these new 
anti-fraud tools to protect Medicare beneficiaries and all of America's 
taxpayers.

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