Obama To Expand Audit Authority for Agencies, Health Care Programs
On Wednesday, President Obama is expected to announce an initiative expanding the ability of federal agencies and programs to use private audits to detect fraudulent payments for health care and other services, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Current law permits certain federal agencies to use "payment recapture audits," in which contracted private companies audit government programs to detect wrongful payments. The contractors receive payments for a portion of the fraud cases they uncover.
For the new initiative, Obama is expected to sign a presidential memorandum that will expand the use of such audits to additional federal agencies and programs, including Medicaid and Medicare.
The directive is part of the president's broader effort to combat fraud in federal programs (Meckler/Hitt, Wall Street Journal, 3/9). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.