AG Candidate Says RI Needs to Go After More Medicaid Fraud
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Attorney General candidate Chris Little thinks the state can do a better job of going after Medicaid fraud—and promises to step up investigations if elected.
In 2008, Rhode Island recovered nearly $4 million from individuals and businesses who had committed Medicaid fraud, according to the Attorney General’s office. The state of New York, by comparison, got back $263.5 million dollars, according to the annual report from that state’s Attorney General.
“The state’s record in recovering Medicaid fraud dollars frankly has been poor,” said Little, who is running under the banner of the Moderate Party. “With a more aggressive, concerted effort in the Attorney General’s office to go after fraud, we can help our seniors in nursing homes get improved care while adding to the state budget during tough economic times.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTLittle said managing the costs of Medicaid is even more important now with the passage of the national health care bill, which he said will drive up spending even more.
RI Has Fewer Investigators To Go After Fraud
Most of the money that Rhode Island recovered from Medicaid fraud came from two sources—nationwide civil lawsuits initiated by several states and joint state and federal criminal prosecutions. On its own, Rhode Island’s Medicaid Fraud Control and Patient Abuse Unit was able to collect only $161,281.79 through civil lawsuits in 2008.
The disparity in how much the two states were able to recover from Medicaid fraud is due to the size of their staff, according to Beryl Kenyon, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Patrick Lynch.
“The Medicaid Fraud Unit in New York has 51 Attorneys, we have two,” Kenyon said. “New York has 101 Auditors. We have one. They have 82 investigators. We have six, plus one nurse investigator. New York has 78 additional people who are analysts and staff members.”
Little did not specify whether he would expand the staff or add other resources to the Medicaid Fraud Control and Patient Abuse Unit.
AG Office Says State Still Aggressive in Going After Fraud
James Dube, who heads up Rhode Island’s Medicaid Fraud Control and Patient Abuse Unit, said the state has still been aggressive in hunting down cases of Medicaid fraud.
Dube, who joined the office at the end of 2008, said it recently filed a civil suit against Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which has been acquired by Pfizer Inc. And, because of his close work with the U.S. Attorney in Rhode Island, he said that he is being appointed a special assistant U.S. Attorney so he can prosecute cases in federal court.
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