Fraud and abuse update

On May 20, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act into law, introducing sweeping changes to the False Claims Act and providing hundreds of millions of dollars for enforcement. Also on May 20, 2009, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new and aggressive interagency task force called the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) to combat Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Health-care fraud enforcement is clearly a top priority of President Obama's administration. Providers should expect to come under increased scrutiny. The attached Alert provides details on the enacted legislation and HEAT initiatives.

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