President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum that will expand the federal government’s efforts to combat fraud and reduce improper Medicare and Medicaid payments. Building on the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program, the new plan directs all federal departments and agencies to more aggressively use "payment recapture audits," which offer private auditors financial incentives to identify improper payments.
According to the White House, improper payments totaled $98 billion in 2009; with roughly $54 billion from Medicare and Medicaid. Obama said that the new effort is expected "to more than double the amounts we would’ve otherwise recovered," which may amount to "a couple of billion dollars over the next few years."
