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Sen. Cornyn: Medicare Fraud Forum Highlights Need for Congressional Action to Address Waste, Fraud & Abuse
Co-chairs forum to examine Medicare fraud and abuse, shed light on necessary steps to end practice
Monday, July 28, 2008
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, co-chaired a forum today along with Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., to examine efforts Congress should take to target and eliminate Medicare fraud. According to a recent report released by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ Subcommittee, Medicare paid up to $92 million in claims linked to deceased physicians from 2000 to 2007. Sen. Cornyn said it is only the latest evidence that Congress must do more to address Medicare fraud and abuse.
“Today’s forum was an opportunity to shed light on the true costs of Medicare fraud and the root causes that we must address. I appreciated the chance to discuss this problem with leading experts who made clear that inaction is allowing rampant waste, fraud and abuse. Overall Medicare fraud is estimated to be at $60 billion, which is 20 percent of all Medicare spending. As a result, millions of taxpayer dollars are going down the drain. The Medicare program is critical to our nation’s seniors and must be one that is run efficiently and effectively.
“Last month, Sen. Martinez and I joined together in offering The Seniors and Taxpayers Obligation Protection Act, or STOP Act, (S.3164) to protect honest taxpayers, seniors, and providers, by strengthening the Medicare program itself. I hope that the Democratic leadership in Congress will give this issue, and this legislation, the attention it deserves. Our bill represents a first step in fighting Medicare fraud, and will put us on the right track to saving taxpayer money and protecting our seniors.
“I hope that everyone will notice the urgency of this issue and make it a top priority. Our seniors, our providers and our taxpayers deserve better accountability from Medicare.”
Background
Sens. Cornyn and Martinez introduced a measure to detect and prevent Medicare fraud in June. The Senior and Taxpayers Obligation Protection Act (STOP Act) will require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to put procedures in place that will help stop Medicare fraud before it starts.
In particular, the STOP Act:
- Requires the Secretary of HHS to implement procedures to change the current system of using Social Security numbers as the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI), thus reducing fraud and identity theft among seniors. In addition, HHS will implement a procedure for verifying the accuracy of physician charges.
- Establishes prepaid fraud detection methods, which include pre-enrollment site visits for high risk areas and prepayment claim edits to detect submissions that are most likely fraudulent.
Sen. Cornyn serves on the Armed Services, Judiciary and Budget Committees. In addition, he is Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Border Security and Refugees subcommittee and the Armed Services Committee’s Airland subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.
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