Thurman: McCollum's Response Can't Cover Up Failure to More Aggressively Fight Medicaid Fraud

Following Florida gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink's call to for more aggressive action to crack down on rampant Medicaid fraud, and criticism by fellow Republicans, Attorney General Bill McCollum's election year ploys fall short. Any knee-jerk response from Bill McCollum does not cover up a record of dropping the ball on policing Medicaid fraud which costs Florida up to $3.2 billion a year.

"Florida is losing billions of dollars to runaway Medicaid fraud, as our state is facing a Medicaid budget crisis - it is clearly time for strong leadership to crack down on this rampant fraud and ensure better use of our taxpayer dollars," said Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman. "Unfortunately, Bill McCollum's failure to more aggressively crack down on Medicaid fraud has helped allow these con-artists to steal billions of dollars from our state, and his election year attempts to cover up his failures on Medicaid fraud are too little, too late."

Although Bill McCollum employs more staff to investigate Medicaid fraud than any other state in the country besides New York, Florida's Medicaid Control Fraud Unit currently ranks 39th in the nation for Medicaid fraud convictions per staff position and 25th in the nation for efficiency in fighting Medicaid fraud. Meanwhile, OPPAGA estimates Medicaid fraud accounts for anywhere between $785 million to $3.2 billion of the annual Medicaid budget.

McCollum's failure on Medicaid fraud is so glaring that his fellow Republicans criticized him in the Miami Herald last week. Senator Durell Peaden, who chairs the Senate health budget committee, "faulted the U.S. Attorney's Office and McCollum's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for not focusing enough on Medicaid fraud." Senator Peaden even said, "[Bill McCollum] needs to get his butt in gear." (Miami Herald, 3/4/10)

Republican Senator Don Gaetz, who sponsored legislation last year that gave fraud investigators more tools, "agreed more enforcement could help," specifically saying "It's time we send in the sheriff." And legislation sponsored by Senator Joe Negron (SB 8) and supported by Senate President Jeff Atwater acknowledges that "Medicaid fraud in Florida is epidemic, far reaching, and costs the state and the Federal Government millions of dollars annually."

In these tough economic times, the number of Floridians on Medicaid has risen resulting in Medicaid costs that will hit $19 billion in 2010 - about 28 percent of Florida's budget. Yet, an analysis by the state's own Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) estimates that as much as $3.2 billion is lost each year on Medicaid fraud.

Bill McCollum's Failure To Effectively Crack Down On Medicaid Fraud:

McCOLLUM'S MEDICAID FRAUD CONTROL UNIT IS THE SECOND LARGEST IN THE COUNTRY BUT FLORIDA WAS 39TH IN THE COUNTRY FOR NUMBER OF CONVICTIONS & 25TH IN THE COUNTRY FOR MONEY RECOVERED

According to a January 2010 report issued by the Health and Human Services Department, Bill McCollum's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) lagged behind dozens of other states in the number of convictions and dollars recovered in Federal Fiscal Year 2008:

McCollum's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Employed More Staff than Every Other State Except New York. Attorney General Bill McCollum's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit employed more staff than any other state with the exception of New York. Florida's MFCU included 201 staff positions, compared to 191 in California, and 187 in Texas.

Number of Convictions by McCollum's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Was 39th In Country. The number of convictions per staff positions by McCollum's MFCU was 39th in the country. For instance, while Florida had 82 convictions for their 201 staff positions, Ohio had 94 convictions with only 45 staff positions.

Under McCollum, Florida Was 25th In the Country for Fraud Dollars Recovered for Every Dollar Received. In FFY 2008, Florida received $18 million in federal grants to fight Medicaid fraud, and McCollum's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit recovered $121.7 million -- for a total of $6.76 recovered for every federal dollar received. By comparison, Texas received $15.25 million in Medicaid fraud grants and recovered $164.3 million for a total of nearly $11 recovered for every federal dollar received.

(Source: Department of Health and Human Services, SMFCU Statistical Information, FFY 2008)