North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper announced today what he calls the "first wave" of ramped up efforts to fight Medicaid fraud in the state. Cooper says 18 people in 10 counties have been arrested in the past week. He says the total monetary loss to the Medicaid program from these cases is more than half a million dollars.
Roy Cooper: "Today we're sending out a warning to those who would commit Medicaid fraud. We'll find you, prosecute you, and get the money back for the taxpayers."
State lawmakers recently passed a state budget that nearly doubled the size of the SBI's Medicaid Fraud unit. Cooper says most of the cases involve unauthorized personal care services billing the Medicaid program for work that did not occur. There also are some cases of over-billing by health care providers.