Retirees to identify Medicaid, Medicare waste, fraud

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala announced $2 million in grants for a new program that will recruit and train retired professionals to identify fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicaid and Medicare programs.

Grants will go to 12 innovative projects as part of the two-year demonstration program. The purpose of the projects, administered by the Administration on Aging (AoA) in Washington, DC, is to teach volunteer retired professionals such as doctors, nurses, accountants, investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, teachers, and others to work with Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. Volunteers who will work in their own communities and in local senior centers will be trained to help identify deceptive health care practices, such as overbilling, overcharging, or providing unnecessary or inappropriate services.

The Health Care Anti-Fraud, Waste and Abuse Community Volunteers Demonstration Projects are being created under legislation authored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

Project plans include the development of training manuals, Internet Web sites, and statewide toll-free hotlines. Funding for the new projects is being provided to AoA by the Health Care Financing Administration in Baltimore.

For a list of selected projects, call (202) 401-4541 or go to the AoA’s home page on the Internet at www.aoa.dhhs.gov.