The U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte, North Carolina, hosted the annual meeting of the Western District's Health Care Fraud Working Group. This group is a collaboration between federal and state agencies aimed at addressing health care fraud and safeguarding taxpayer money within the Western District of North Carolina.
Participants in this working group include investigators, analysts, auditors, and attorneys from various state and federal agencies. Among them are the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI), the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG), and others.
During the meeting, U.S. Attorney Dena J. King emphasized the importance of cooperation among these partner agencies and acknowledged their efforts in combating health care fraud. "Health care fraud undermines public trust, exploits vulnerable patients, and siphons billions from taxpayer-funded programs," said King. She added that by combining expertise and resources, they can effectively detect, dismantle, and prosecute health care fraud schemes while protecting crucial government programs relied upon by many North Carolinians.
The mission of the Health Care Fraud Working Group includes detecting health care fraud through coordinated investigations, sharing information, identifying existing and emerging schemes, and developing cases. The focus areas include fraudulent billing practices, COVID-19-related fraud, kickback schemes, and fraud targeting government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE.
If there is suspicion of Medicare or Medicaid fraud, individuals are encouraged to report it via phone at 1-800-HHS-TIPS or email at HHSTips@oig.hhs.gov. For Medicaid fraud in North Carolina specifically, reports can be made to the North Carolina Medicaid Investigations Division at 919-881-2320 or through an online complaint form. TRICARE fraud reporting options are also available as well as avenues for reporting fraud against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system via www.vaoig.gov/hotline.