Cornyn Wants Anti-Fraud Measures in Health Reform Bill

WASHINGTON–At the June 2 American Association for
Homecare’s Legislative Conference, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas,
said he hoped any health care reform legislation put together by
Congress would include Medicare anti-fraud initiatives.
 
Along with Sen. Mel Martinez, R- Fla., Cornyn introduced an
anti-fraud bill called the Senior
and Taxpayers Obligation Protection (STOP) Act (S. 975) in May.
The proposed legislation includes measures that would stop fraud in
the government’s health programs “on the front
end,” Cornyn said, rather than trying to recoup inappropriate
payments.
 
The bill includes a number of provisions outlined in
AAHomecare’s 13-point anti-fraud proposal, which the group
recommended to lawmakers in February. 
 
Among others, those points include better screening of providers
before enrollment and real-time analysis of claims data (similar to
that used in the analysis of credit card charges) to pinpoint
billing patterns that could indicate fraud or abuse.
 
On the larger health care reform debate, Cornyn said lawmakers
should not be in such a hurry to get a bill to the White
House.
 
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has said he
wants a bill ready for Senate approval by July. “I can’t
imagine how we’re going to meet that timetable,” said Cornyn,
who serves on the committee. He told the AAHomecare audience he
thought not taking more time in putting the massive reform package
together could result in “mistakes.”
 
Read the text of the STOP Act here.
 
For more on AAHomecare’s 13-point plan, see “One
More Time: AAHomecare Rolls Out Anti-Fraud Plan,” Feb.
11.