WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) today at a leadership press conference discussed House efforts to rein in waste, fraud and abuse within the Medicaid system:
Remarks as prepared:
“I want to highlight a bill that we’re bringing up this week that the Majority Leader just talked about, and that’s a bill that protects taxpayers by Dr. Larry Bucshon.
“If you look at the Medicaid program, within HHS, their Office of Inspector General identified nearly 300 providers still operating in Medicaid programs that had already been found guilty of defrauding taxpayers in other states. Whether it’s double-billing, phantom billing, and in some cases even billing for more than 24 hours in a day, these fraudulent practices ultimately lead to millions and millions of dollars of fraud in the Medicaid program.
“Under the law, if you’re found guilty of fraud in the Medicaid program in any state, you’re not supposed to be able to participate in other states. And yet it’s going on, again, nearly 300 providers that have been found guilty of defrauding taxpayers in one state are still operating in the Medicaid program in other states.
“That’s got to end.
“Under the bill that we’re bringing forward by Dr. Bucshon, that actually will end. This will save millions of dollars for taxpayers who are tired of seeing their money, their taxpayer dollars, being wasted in Washington. Here you’ve got a case where the Office of Inspector General has actually identified over 200 cases where this is going on. This bill will finally make that stop.”