SJ: Medicare Overbilling Probes Run into Political Pressure
Medicare fraud is a non-partisan issue. Stealing taxpayer dollars is one practice that everyone can agree needs to be reported, investigated and punished. Whistleblowers are best able to make that happen. — Shayne Stevenson, Head of Whistleblower Practice
"When investigators suspected that Houston’s Riverside General Hospital had filed Medicare claims for patients who weren’t treated, they moved to block all payments to the facility. Then politics intervened. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, contacted the federal official who oversees Medicare, Marilyn Tavenner, asking her to back down, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. In a June 2012 letter to Ms. Tavenner, Rep. Jackson Lee said blocking payments had put the hospital at financial risk and “jeopardized” patients needing Medicare. " Full article »
