Federal recoveries from healthcare fraud in civil cases over the past five years totaled $5.26 billion, according to a report released by the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund. The fund is a nonprofit, public interest organization based in Washington D.C. that supports the qui tam (whistleblower) provisions of the False Claims Act.

The report estimated that for every dollar spent to investigate and prosecute healthcare fraud, the federal government received almost $13 in return. This is compared with $8 for every $1 invested in 2002.

Jack Meyer, president of the Economic and Social Research Institute, authored the study. The Institute is also a nonprofit in D.C. that researches ways to improve the way healthcare services are organized and delivered.