How much does it take to fight healthcare fraud? More than $1 billion, according to the president.
President Bush is asking for $1.22 billion to fund healthcare fraud-fighting activities, especially in Medicare, for fiscal year 2007. Most of those funds are considered mandatory funds – funds used from the Medicare Part A trust fund for combating healthcare fraud and abuse.
A total of $744 million of the mandatory funds would go to the Medicare Integrity Program, while $114 million would be allocated to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Another $240.6 million would be split among the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and other HHS agencies.
The remaining $118.4 million in funding that is not mandatory would be used as discretionary funds to support Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program activities.
