The New York Attorney General's office recovered $335 million in Medicaid fraud for taxpayers in 2012.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the money had been improperly claimed through fraud or abuse in the Medicaid system. This was the second-highest annual recovery total every by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the highest recovery in seven years.
"Part of my first major initiative when I took office was to bolster the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with additional prosecutors, investigators and auditors, in order to even more aggressively root out fraud and return money illegally stolen from New York taxpayers and their government," Schneiderman said. "That initiative has paid off with record recoveries for taxpayers this year. My office's Medicaid Fraud team will keep working hard to root out fraud wherever it exists, and protect the integrity of the Medicaid program for those who truly need it."
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The fraud unit was active in every part of the state. In the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history, Schneiderman reached a $146 million agreement with GlaxoSmithKline as part of a $3 billion multi-state settlement to resolve claims that the pharmaceutical giant engaged in various illegal schemes related to the marketing and pricing of drugs it manufactures, including Paxil, Wellbutrin and Advair.
His office also shut down a large scheme to distribute black market prescription HIV drugs thorugh Suffolk County-based MOMS Pharmacy and bill the Medicaid Program for more than $155 million.
The Attorney General also shut down a major Staten Island drug trafficking operation that was dealing a supply of illegal narcotics, including thousands of oxycodone pills paid for by Medicaid and other insurers, obtained through false auto insurance claims and doctor shopping.
"The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit does an outstanding job, not only protecting taxpayers, but protecting patients from fraudulent practices that endangered their safety," Schneiderman said. "I know this unit will continue to be vigilant in the coming year and send the message that fraud and abuse that endangers patients and rips off taxpayers will not be tolerated in our state."
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