Remarks of Deputy Secretary Bill Corr at the National Health Care Fraud Summit

Bethesda, MD - January 28, 2010

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Good morning.  I’m Bill Corr, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.  And I want to extend to each of you a very warm welcome to the first National Summit on Health Care Fraud.

Getting us all here today was a big team effort; and there are many people who worked incredibly hard to make sure this Summit happened, including some really dedicated people at the Department of Justice.  From my agency, these folks include people at CMS, the Office of the Inspector General, the Administration on Aging, the HHS Executive Secretariat, and the HHS public affairs office.  And I certainly want to recognize the many people from law enforcement, private companies, non-profit organizations and anti-fraud associations who generously gave us your input as we were putting the Summit together.

I want to extend a special thank you to all the staff at Justice and HHS who work day in and day out on the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Task Force, which we refer to as Project HEAT.  It is Project HEAT’s successes that made clear that we needed to expand our efforts beyond the federal government.

And, the final thank you is to each of you.  You are here today because we share an agenda, and a mission.  We know that health care fraud is not a victimless crime. It drives up the costs of health care, hurting taxpayers and private insurance clients, patients and providers alike. Like criminals everywhere, health care fraudsters look for easy money by preying on the good intentions of society.    They have set their sights on a potential treasure trove of criminal activity. Total health spending topped $2 trillion in 2008. Medicare and Medicaid spent over $800 billion. 

The vulnerability of both public and private insurance companies makes health care an attractive target for criminals. And when they succeed in stealing from Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers, they steal access to health care from people who need it.  Every dollar that a criminal pockets in a home infusion scam is a dollar that doesn’t pay for real IV therapy for people with AIDS, or for kidney dialysis or cancer care.  Billions of dollars lost to a fraud scheme drives up the cost of health care for everyone. 

Shortly, we will hear from Attorney General Holder and Secretary Sebelius that safeguarding taxpayer dollars, reducing the cost of health care and fighting health care fraud are among this Administration’s highest priorities.  But one thing about criminals—they’re very creative—so we need more than the federal government to bring them all to justice.  That’s why we’ve invited you—the insurers and beneficiaries; the law enforcement officials and the health care providers—to work with us and be part of a larger HEAT team.

This morning we will also hear from Congressman Ron Klein; and about the outstanding work being done in South Florida; and from James Roosevelt about the private sector’s role in this effort.

In the afternoon, we’re looking forward to breakout sessions where we get to join forces with you; where we want your contributions on the best strategies to combat fraud.  We need your ideas and recommendations on how we all can do our jobs more effectively.  We need your full participation in the breakout sessions and we need your continuing engagement when we leave later today. 

So don’t hold back. We want your best.  The criminals are out there; and the solutions are in here.  Help us see new ways to identify the criminals and bring them to justice.  We are the right people to accomplish this charge.

It is now my pleasure to turn the program over to  Incoming Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler.