Medicare News
| For Immediate Release: | Contact: |
| Thursday, March 23, 2000 | CMS Office of Public Affairs 202-690-6145 |
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MANHATTAN RESIDENT HONORED FOR WORK TO HELP PREVENT FRAUD AND ABUSE IN MEDICARE
A Manhattan resident has been honored for outstanding work to help prevent fraud and abuse in Medicare and to assure beneficiaries they will get quality health care.
Jean Stone, who lives in the East Village, was selected by Nancy-Ann DeParle, administrator of the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), as employee of the month for February. A 29-year federal employee, Stone works as a health insurance specialist in the New York regional office of HCFA, the agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid.
Stone has worked to develop new national performance standards for preventing fraud and abuse to evaluate the private insurance companies that pay and process Medicare claims. In 1998, HCFA began an intensive effort to strengthen its oversight of these contractors.
She also had a leading role in HCFA's first comprehensive plan for program integrity which outlines the agency's overall strategy for reducing fraud and abuse in billing for Medicare services.
The national plan focuses on several overall areas including making medical review and benefit integrity activities more effective, strengthening payment safeguards for new benefits authorized in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and promoting provider integrity.
"Jean Stone's award recognizes her efforts in improving program integrity and in safeguarding the Medicare trust fund," DeParle said. "She also is a valuable resource for the entire agency when information is needed about a program integrity issue."
For nearly three decades, Stone has had extensive experience with federal health care programs and Medicare's coverage and medical review policies. Last year, she became the senior specialist on program integrity in the New York regional office.
Last summer, she helped train HCFA staff participating in national teams to review Medicare contractor performance. She also took part in national benefit integrity training with the Office of the Inspector General, FBI and assistant U.S. attorneys.
Since 1993, the Clinton Administration has focused attention on the fight against fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In 1999, HHS increased health care convictions by 57 percent over 1998 levels and by more than 80 percent since 1992. Since 1996, aggressive enforcement has recovered nearly $1.9 billion, while other efforts to prevent improper and wasteful spending have saved taxpayers an estimated $60 billion since 1993.
During her career, Stone has earned numerous awards and citations from HCFA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She is a two-time winner of HHS' highest honor, the Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service.
"Jean Stone, in her many years of service at HCFA, has demonstrated leadership and innovation in many aspects of health care delivery to Medicare beneficiaries," said Judy Berek, HCFA regional administrator in New York. "One of her most recent achievements is to take a strong national role in HCFA's anti-fraud efforts."
"It's exciting to be involved in preventing Medicare fraud and in contractor oversight at this time because these efforts are important in safeguarding the Medicare program for our beneficiaries, and in meeting the concerns of Congress and the American people," Stone said.
A Washington, D.C. native, Stone received a bachelor's degree in 1971 from Immaculata College in Immaculata, Pa. After graduation, she began her federal career in Washington, D.C., with the Social and Rehabilitation Service, HCFA's predecessor agency. In 1975, she transferred to HHS' New York regional office.
