Share of Cost, CA SMP’s Efforts Result in Over $7 Million in Recoverable Funds to Medicare
Great news! The amount of funds recovered to Medicare for fraudulent claims that is attributed to cases our California Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) closed in 2013 totals over $7 million. These closed cases range from 2007 to 2012. This success is a direct result of all the efforts and commitment of our dedicated staff and SMP volunteers. A big thank you to all our volunteers and partnering colleagues for your great service in helping restore integrity to our Medicare program. These numbers are in the 2013 Office of Inspector General (OIG) report.
The national numbers highlighted in the OIG report’s press release are also equally impressive with government teams combined recovering a record $4.3 billion for FY 2013, and $19.2 billion over the past 5 years. This last figure is up from $9.4 billion in the 5 years before that. Since it began in 1997, the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control (HCFAC) Program has returned more than $25.9 billion to the Medicare Trust Funds and treasury.
The report also demonstrates that for every dollar spent on health care-related fraud and abuse investigations in the last 3 years, the government recovered $8.10. This is the highest 3-year average return on investment in the 17-year history of the HCFAC Program.
These record recoveries demonstrate President Obama’s commitment to making the elimination of fraud, waste and abuse, particularly in health care, a top priority for the administration. This is the 5th consecutive year that the program has increased recoveries over the past year, rising from $2 billion in FY 2008 to over $4 billion every year since FY 2011.