It’s not in the news every day, but wherever you have vast amounts of government money, you’re going to see waste, fraud and abuse. Medicaid, the state’s program of health care for the poor, sees considerable waste and abuse – estimates suggest as much $4 billion per year. That hurts both taxpayers and the poor.

The senate initiated a comprehensive Medicaid fraud plan that was developed after statewide public hearings held by the Senate Medicaid Reform Task Force. At the hearings, the task force received opinions and suggestions from the health care industry and the law enforcement community on what could be done to strengthen the state’s efforts to detect and prevent Medicaid fraud.

The task force proposed a state cap on local Medicaid expenses and the state takeover of the local share of the Family Health Plus program, ideas that became law and that have saved local property taxpayers billions of dollars.

The senate passed the toughest, most comprehensive plan to combat Medicaid fraud in the United States this year (S. 8450) . The legislation would fight fraud and abuse at every step of the process, from billing and pre-payment review to investigation, civil recovery and criminal prosecution of Medicaid thieves. The measure was approved by both houses of the legislature and sent to the governor.

The senate anti-Medicaid fraud bill includes: