Frankel Tackles Medicare Fraud

West Palm Beach, FL — Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-22) met with residents at Evernia Place in West Palm Beach to discuss ways to prevent, detect, and report Medicare fraud, and unveil the Fighting Medicare Fraud Act of 2014. Each year 1.5 million people are victims of medical identity theft and $50 billion is lost from Medicare annually due to fraud.

“Unfortunately, South Florida is ground zero for this crime,” said Congresswoman Frankel. “Medicare fraud often has severe consequences on the lives of victims and strains a program that so many of our seniors rely on for quality health care.”

Frankel introduced the Fighting Medicare Fraud Act of 2014, to tackle waste, fraud, and abuse and establish stiffer penalties on people who commit this crime. The legislation closes a loophole that corrupt CEOs and parent corporations use to exploit Medicare. Right now, if a company is under investigation for Medicare fraud and the CEO resigns prior to a penalty being handed down, he or she may legally start a new company and potentially launch a new Medicare scam. This bill would prohibit these people from reentering the Medicare business.

It also creates a specific offense for stealing a Medicare identification number. This legislation adds tough new penalties for illegally stealing or distributing these numbers with a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. President Obama requested that this provision be part of the bill.

Finally, the Fighting Medicare Fraud Act of 2014 requires Medicare Advantage and Part D organizations to report any incidences of potential fraud and abuse to the federal government. This piece was incorporated into the legislation at the recommendation of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Fighting Medicare Fraud Act of 2014 has been endorsed by the Alliance for Retired Americans.

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