The Department of Justice announced today that they recovered $8 for every $1 spent while investigating healthcare fraud in 2012.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government says it recovered almost $8 for each dollar it spent investigating health care fraud over the past three years, including a record $4.2 billion last year.
The $7.90 average return on investment is the highest in the 16-year history of the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Program. Since 1997, the program – a joint effort of the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services – has returned more than $23 billion to the Medicare trust funds.
Overall, the Justice Department opened more than 1,100 criminal health care fraud investigations last year involving 2,148 potential defendants. More than 800 defendants were convicted of health care fraud-related crimes during the year and the department opened nearly 900 new civil investigations.
Because of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice are better equipped than they’ve ever been to combat waste and fraud. And as we’ve discussed here in the past, healthcare fraud is a massive industry. In the state of Florida, for example, Medicare fraud is bigger than the illegal drug trade. Maybe that’s why they elected a Medicare fraudster as their governor. Zing!
(h/t Seth Price)