Grassley Introduces Bill to Fight Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Medicaid, Medicare, and SCHIP

On the same day that the departments of Health and Human Services and Justice held a Summit on Health Care Fraud (see related article) Ranking Senate Finance Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA)Thursday introduced the “Strengthening Program Integrity and Accountability in Health Care Act." Grassley's legislation brings together "bipartisan initiatives to fight fraud, waste and abuse in taxpayer-sponsored health care programs, which all face serious budgetary challenges.” It includes many of the themes for fighting fraud addressed in the HHS/DOJ summit.

The bill would strengthen the Federal False Claims Act, strengthen provider screening requirements, establish provider compliance program requirements and increase disclosure requirements of entity and provider ownership, increase federal funding, strengthen reporting requirements for Medicaid and Medicare Integrity Programs, and improve collection and sharing of data. “As spending on these programs continues to grow, Congress should act quickly to pass these reforms out of respect for taxpayers and on behalf of program beneficiaries.”