Strengthening the Health Care Fraud Prevention Task Force Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6753) to amend title XI of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a public- private partnership for purposes of identifying health care waste, fraud, and abuse, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of H.R. 6753, the Strengthening the Health Care Fraud Prevention Task Force Act of 2018, authored by Chairman Greg Walden and Ranking Member Frank Pallone of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

H.R. 6753 seeks to codify the Health Care Fraud Prevention Partnership, which would better equip public and private organizations to combat and prevent fraud and abuse in our healthcare system.

Tens of billions of dollars are lost to healthcare fraud in the United States every year, and much of this fraud is preventable or, at the very least, detectable. Fraud and abuse within our healthcare system comes in various forms, ranging from telephone or email scams to obtain patient information to fraudulent billing practices.

Healthcare fraud is not only costly to the Federal and State governments and an avoidable waste of taxpayer dollars. Fraud and abuse is costly for, and often hurtful to, American patients.

For example, in May of this year, a doctor in Texas was indicted in a fraud case involving $240 million worth of claims. A Department of Justice investigation found that the rheumatologist had given patients false diagnoses, followed by chemotherapy and other treatments that they did not need.

Americans should feel confident in and be able to trust their doctors. The unfortunate reality is that there are bad actors who make decisions based solely on financial interests and not on what is best for the patient or for their fellow citizens.

Another Texas case was settled just last month as a hospital administrator in Houston was convicted for his involvement in a $16 million fraud scheme. In this particular case, the hospital administrator had orchestrated a system of kickbacks with various individuals in return for sending Medicare patients to certain partial hospitalization program services. Thanks to various investigative bodies bridging the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, this fraud was uncovered and investigated in an effort to protect both patients and taxpayer dollars from exploitation.

Lastly, near my district in north Texas, there was a scheme in which a semiretired doctor signed off on fraudulent paperwork, including payments for fake patients. What started as a retirement gig rubber- stamping documents ended in his conviction, due to his involvement in a $13 million home healthcare scam. The scam in its entirety stole $373 million from Medicare and Medicaid.

I could go on with stories of healthcare fraud just in Texas, because these three examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, rampant healthcare fraud is not a Texas-specific issue. It is prevalent across our Nation. This is why we need to pass H.R. 6753 and codify the Health Care Fraud Prevention Partnership.

The partnership was established by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Attorney General in September 2012 through the signing of a charter. It is currently operated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and has allowed for increased coordination in addressing healthcare fraud, waste, and abuse, but has not been codified in statute.

This partnership is voluntary among both private and public entities to reduce fraud in our healthcare system. Participants in this critical partnership include the Federal Government, State agencies, law enforcement, private health insurance plans, employer

organizations, and other associations. The partnership allows for robust analyses of healthcare across different players, including Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers.

While these partners have access to their own data, cross-payer analyses are crucial in identifying savings and increasing detection of fraud, waste, and abuse. Collaborating through data sharing and other methods, the partners can paint a broad picture of the fraud networks and cast a wide net, increasing the ability to intervene and stop payments, and establish new and effective fraud prevention techniques.

It is worth noting that, in addition to codifying and formalizing the Health Care Fraud Prevention Task Force, the bill requires the task force to perform an analysis of abnormal or fraudulent billing patterns and trends by providers and suppliers of substance use disorder treatments. This effort fits nicely into what Congress has accomplished this year with the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act being signed into law.

H.R. 6753 will make a difference in cutting waste, fraud, and abuse in our healthcare system. I support this legislation and urge fellow Members to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Strengthening the Health Care Fraud Prevention Task Force Act of 2018. This bipartisan bill would authorize the Healthcare Fraud Prevention Partnership and expand and enhance the task force's capabilities to fight waste, fraud, and abuse throughout our healthcare system. This, in turn, will reduce costs for families and taxpayers.

The Healthcare Fraud Prevention Partnership is a public-private partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services, private payers, Federal and State law enforcement agencies, and State healthcare agencies. The partnership aims to improve the detection and prevention of healthcare fraud by promoting the exchange of data and information between the public and private sectors on fraud trends, as well as successful anti-fraud practices.

The legislation we are considering today would require the partnership to report regularly to Congress and give the agency the tools it needs to enhance and expand its capability. This is a good bill that makes sense, a bill that will work.

We must continue to work, on a bipartisan basis, to enhance our fraud detection capabilities. I support this legislation and urge my colleagues to continue working together to find meaningful solutions to reduce costs by rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse in our healthcare system.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6753, the Health Care Fraud Prevention Task Force Act. This bipartisan bill--which I introduced with Ranking Member Frank Pallone, and is supported by Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady and Ranking Member Richard Neal--passed the Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously earlier this year. This will be the 132nd bill that our committee has passed this Congress, 92 percent of which have been bipartisan just like this one. I look forward to continuing in that vein over the next two years.

By passing this bill, we will be codifying a program that already works. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) currently operates the Health Care Fraud Prevention Partnership--a voluntary collaboration between the federal government, state agencies, law enforcement, private health insurance plans, and anti-fraud associations. Together, this group works to detect and prevent fraud that threatens to undermine our nation's health care system. This program was created by the Obama Administration, and the Trump Administration has recommended codifying it into law. The bill before us today does just that, also strengthening and expanding the scope of partnership's work.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this commonsense, bipartisan bill to improve the integrity of our nation's health care system.