[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5336]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             MEDICARE FRAUD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, this morning, my good friend and 
Florida colleague Congressman Ron Klein and I held a press conference 
at the Little Havana Activity and Nutrition Center where we unveiled 
our bipartisan anti-Medicare fraud bill.
  Medicare fraud is a problem that hurts our most vulnerable citizens. 
Our South Florida community knows firsthand the hardship that it 
creates. In 2008, approximately $703 million in false Medicare claims 
originated from South Florida. Last year, that figure rose to $952 
million from South Florida.
  Our community needs to say in no uncertain terms that fraud and abuse 
in Medicare will not be tolerated and that our seniors will not be 
preyed upon by opportunistic vandals. That is why Congressman Ron Klein 
and I filed the Medicare Fraud Enforcement and Prevention Act. This 
legislation will help curb the fraud in the Medicare system. It will 
not only toughen the penalties on those individuals who engage in fraud 
but it will also help implement new screening procedures and biometric 
checks for all Medicare claims and services.
  Medicare fraud is not isolated to cases that involve rogue 
individuals. Unfortunately, the reality is that more and more Medicare 
fraud is being perpetrated by groups that are organized and are 
sophisticated in their technique. This bipartisan bill will help catch 
up existing rules and regulations with the reality of today's threats.
  Fraud and abuse costs the Medicare system billions of dollars each 
year. It costs the system, in fact, $60 billion every year. It harms 
the health care industry as a whole, and it undermines the market for 
legitimate health care products. It hurts legitimate suppliers who 
cannot compete with illegitimate suppliers who pad their income by 
billing for services that they never rendered. Fraud undermines public 
confidence in health care providers.
  The Klein-Ros-Lehtinen bill will create a strong deterrent for would-
be criminals by doubling the fines and jail time for those convicted of 
scamming the Medicare system. It creates a new offense for illegally 
distributing a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary ID and establishes a 
penalty of 3 years in prison and a fine equivalent to the dollar amount 
stolen from Medicare. The Klein-Ros-Lehtinen bill doubles the criminal 
penalty for making false statements and for violating the anti-kickback 
statute from 5 to 10 years in prison and from $25,000 to a $50,000 
fine. The Klein-Ros-Lehtinen bill will also create a pilot program that 
will implement biometric technology to ensure that Medicare 
beneficiaries are physically present to receive those services. This 
bill mandates strict background checks for Medicare suppliers that 
would be carried out before they start cashing those taxpayer checks.
  Since its inception in the year 2007, Miami-Dade County's interagency 
Medicare Strike Force has helped stem the tide of Medicare fraud in our 
South Florida community. It has gotten more than $220 million in court-
ordered restitution to Medicare from defendants in 87 separate cases. 
The task force has saved Medicare approximately $1.75 billion in phony 
claim submissions. But, Madam Speaker, lamentably there is so much more 
that needs to be done.
  The bill that Ron Klein and I have filed today will help give law 
enforcement the tools necessary to make even more arrests and to crack 
down on fraud in a more efficient and effective manner. It will direct 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide real-time access 
to data regarding fraud that will then be given to local law 
enforcement officials. The Klein-Ros-Lehtinen bill also directs the 
GAO, the Government Accountability Office, to follow up with Medicare 
contractors and report back to us in Congress with recommendations to 
make this system work even better for seniors all across the country.

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