Republicans are on the front lines to root out waste, fraud and abuse of the federal government by large criminal conspiracies.
Accordingly, I am taking additional steps to continue the Republicans’ War on Fraud.
Earlier this year, I helped lead investigations into Medicaid fraud. Together with Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Brett Guthrie, and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman, Congressman John Joyce, we probed ongoing fraud in numerous State Medicaid programs.
Our Committee investigations extended to fraud-ridden States such as California, Minnesota and New York.
As a result of our investigative work, which shows nationwide trends in Medicare and Medicaid fraud costing American taxpayers billions of dollars every year, we produced a comprehensive staff report to shine a light on our findings.
The report makes several recommendations.
One is to strengthen federal program integrity guidelines.
Minimum qualifications, screening risk standards for providers of equipment and services, and more frequent screenings as well as background checks for providers are fraud-preventative actions that federal authorities can push.
Another recommendation is to improve States’ capacity to prevent fraud before it occurs.
It is clear that some States make patients more vulnerable to fraud due to weak oversight measures. If this lack of oversight action is maintained at its current trajectory, this problem will continue to persist and grow, allowing fraudsters access to valuable health care dollars and thus robbing resources from patients that need them.
For example, some States like Virginia exercise provider screening and investigative audits. These program integrity tools and practices must be fully applied in more States.
That is why our report also encourages the employment of innovative tools to improve fraud detection capabilities.
Artificial intelligence technologies can complement the above oversight actions to help States better track unusual and fraudulent activity.
As a solution to the highlighted problems, the Committee recently unveiled a package of policies that help combat fraudulent activities, protect public health programs and serve vital health care resources to patients.
As part of this policy package, I introduced H.R. 10621 – the Medicaid Fraud Fighting and Taxpayer Protection Act.
My bill targets Medicaid fraud by incentivizing States to take steps, such as implementing program integrity tools, that investigate fraud and protect federal health care programs.
The incentive provided by my bill allows States to receive an increased portion of the federal dollars saved when they identify fraud. This saved money can then be used to support numerous State programs like those in Virginia.
Ongoing fraudulent activities recently impacted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in Virginia.
In Lynchburg, officials notified residents that more than $60,000 in SNAP benefits were stolen from Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards in the month of August! It is believed that fraudsters stole private EBT card information and used the money loaded onto the cards to make purchases.
Cardinal News reported that this crime represented a 21-fold increase in food aid fraud.
Even worse, no system was in place to provide the Lynchburg SNAP theft victims with reimbursement of their stolen benefits.
Thus, the victims found themselves squeezed into a desperate situation.
Already faced with challenging health and financial conditions, SNAP recipients who lose access to all or a portion of their benefits will struggle to get by.
That is why I am promoting a measure that cracks down on fraud impacting SNAP benefits and supports victims of SNAP theft.
I am a co-sponsor of H.R. 3887 – the SNAP Anti-Theft and Victim Compensation Act.
This anti-fraud bill creates new civil penalties for any person who knowingly accesses, uses or transfers SNAP benefits.
Additionally, the bill provides that States can use SNAP benefits to reimburse households whose benefits are stolen due to no fault of their own.
These are some policies that can complement the ongoing work of federal efforts that are saving taxpayers billions and bringing bad guys to justice.
Whether you are a recipient of Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP or some other federal public health program, the benefits belong to you, not some criminal actor who is often part of international criminal conspiracies.
I am proud to continue my efforts that target fraud, protect valuable resources for patients and provide leadership for our War on Fraud.
