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During the week ending May 13, 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a comprehensive set of 18 bills aimed at curbing the opioid epidemic. The largest of these bills, the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016 (H.R. 5046), passed by a 413-5 vote in the House on May 12, 2016.  This bill authorizes US $103 million dollars in grant funding for fiscal years 2017 through 2021, and makes the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) responsible for administering grants to state, local, and tribal governments to provide a range of opioid abuse services.  These services include developing and expanding existing programs to combat opioid abuse, training first responders in administering opioid overdose reversal medication, and providing dedicated opioid treatment and prevention services for veterans.  In March 2016, the Senate passed a similar measure, titled the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (S. 524), which authorizes the Attorney General to award similar grants.

Yesterday, the Department of Justice launched 10 regional task forces aimed at identifying fraud at nursing homes that provide inferior care to elderly residents. Referred to as the Elder Justice Task Forces, the DOJ plans to launch the 10 regional task forces in the following districts across the country:

In a report released on February 26, 2016, the federal government announced that it recovered $2.4 billion through its Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC) during FY 2015.  The $2.4 billion is almost $1 billion lower than the recovery of $3.3 billion in FY 2014.  Over the last three years, the return on investment (ROI) for the HCFAC program is $6.10 returned for every $1.00 expended. Qui tam litigation accounted for $452 million of the recovery by the federal government.

At a recent DC Bar program called “The Use of Data by the OIG-DHHS and CMS/CPI in Medicare Program Integrity, Investigations and Compliance,” representatives from CMS and the OIG provided their perspectives on the evolving capabilities of government agencies to review and analyze large datasets related to the provision and reimbursement of healthcare services.

Biggest year ever for declined qui tams

On December 3, 2015, the Department of Justice announced that it had recovered more than US$3.5 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government…

Introduction

On Wednesday September 9, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ” or the “Department”) issued a memorandum entitled “Individual Accountability For Corporate Wrongdoing” (the “Memo”) outlining specific policy measures intended to empower U.S. prosecutors further in their pursuit of…

On Friday, May 22, a Detroit-area neurosurgeon accused of performing medically unnecessary spinal surgeries pleaded guilty to health care fraud in two federal criminal cases. Dr. Aria Sabat, 39, admitted Friday before U.S. District Judge Paul Borman that his participation…