Ken Paxton
AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today congratulated the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of his office after it received the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s award of excellence in fighting fraud, waste and abuse.
Attorney General Paxton’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit was selected for the top award from 50 units nationwide because of its highly effective collaboration with the Office of the Inspector General, the FBI and other federal partners. During fiscal year 2017, the unit obtained 108 indictments, 137 convictions and led the nation in recovering more than $534 million.
“Medicaid fraud drives up the cost of health care for all of us and steals from taxpayer-funded programs that help Texans receive medical care,” Attorney General Paxton said. “All Texans should be proud that they have the best Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the country working for them. My office will continue to crack down on anyone who schemes to evade the law and profit from defrauding the Medicaid program.”
In honoring Attorney General Paxton’s Medicaid Fraud Unit, the Office of Inspector General highlighted several of the unit’s most notable collaborative successes from last year, including:
- Participation in 121 joint investigations, such as a national health care fraud takedown involving 14 individuals and $49 million in fraudulent billings.
- A multi-agency investigation resulting in the conviction of a Houston home health care owner and several individuals resulting in prison sentences and more than $22 million in restitution.
- A multi-agency investigation that stopped a medical biller after it stole the personal identifying information of over 1,500 Medicaid and Medicare recipients, which was used to obtain food stamp benefit cards and credit cards in Texas and other states.
The Office of Inspector General’s prestigious award of excellence was presented to Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Division Chief Stormy Kelly during a ceremony on Monday in Washington, D.C. Since 2000, the Office of Attorney General of Texas has recovered more than $1.8 billion for taxpayers under the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.