Representative Aaron Bean (R-FL) has introduced a bill that strengthens criminal penalties for healthcare fraud.
The Punishing Health Care Fraudsters Act raises the minimum sentence for defrauding state, private, and public programs from 10 years to 25 years in prison, and increases the minimum sentence for cases involving bodily harm to 30 years in prison.
Federal healthcare fraud now carries much higher fines and longer prison sentences. For instance, the minimum fine for federal (and state) healthcare fraud has been raised from $100,000 to $250,000, in addition to the new 25-year sentence.
Penalties for offenses such as false statements, concealment, misuse of another's information, or fraudulently claiming physician services are quintupled from $20,000 to $100,000.
Rep. Bean is also cracking down on corruption within healthcare systems, as the new bill specifies that providers of illegal kickbacks face $250,000 fines, while Medicare providers who repeatedly commit fraud face fines of up to $100,000 (up from $4,000) and up to one year in prison (up from six months).
"Health care fraud steals directly from hardworking Americans and weakens the integrity of our health system," Rep. Bean said in a press release. "Taxpayers are tired of getting ripped off, and I'm fed up, too. Every dollar stolen from taxpayers is one dollar too many. With the introduction of this bill, the days of soft penalties and leniency for fraudsters are over. If you defraud the federal government, be prepared to face serious consequences."
Senator Ashley Moody (R-FL), who introduced the Senate version of the bill earlier in the Congressional session, warned, "For too long, the American taxpayer has been abused at the hands of criminals who bilk weaknesses in our laws and leaders that won't bolster enforcement."
"I applaud the White House for creating a new Assistant Attorney General position to investigate this deep-rooted fraud," Sen. Moody praised. "The fraud that has been exposed in recent weeks is a cancer that undermines trust and stability in critical programs, steals resources from those who truly need them, and raises the cost on consumers."
