Provider Fraud Costs More than you Think

One of the most important things we do here at TaxWatch is look for ways to make the best use of taxpayer dollars and safeguard Florida’s publicly-funded programs from wasteful spending.  Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) shares this goal, investigating and prosecuting providers that intentionally defraud the state’s Medicaid program through fraudulent billing practices.

We’re pleased to see that the MFCU has been extremely successful.  A recent report shows that Florida recovered the second highest amount of Medicaid dollars in the nation in FY2016, second only to New York at over $165 million. This number reflects just a fraction of what Attorney General Bondi’s MFCU has accomplished.  Since she took office in 2011, the MFCU has reclaimed more than $600 million dollars. To put things in perspective, that’s enough to fund the Florida Department of the Lottery, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Commission on Offender Review, and Department of Business and Professional Regulation in their entirety under Governor Scott’s budget recommendations and still have enough money left over to buy a Tesla.

Long story short—it’s a lot.

TaxWatch congratulates Attorney General Bondi and the MFCU on a job well done, and thanks them for their dedication to protecting taxpayer dollars and defending Floridians from medical neglect and exploitation.

To learn more about Medicaid Fraud and the MFCU, click here.