Representatives Jim McDermott, D-Wash and Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who serve on the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, have reintroduced a 2010 bill that would strengthen federal efforts to combat Medicare payment fraud. The bill would eliminate entities that have been involved in fraud from the program. The bill, which failed to advance in 2010, would authorize the HHS Office of Inspector General to discontinue Medicare payments to such entities and prevent executives from switching between companies to repeatedly defraud Medicare. The measure also would encourage federal authorities to ban organizations tied to fraudulent groups from Medicare.
