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NY recovers $335M from Medicaid fraud, abuse

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says his office recovered more than $335 million last year from Medicaid fraud and abuse. 

The total, including $146 million from a multi-state settlement with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, is the second highest annual recovery by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Schneiderman says he added prosecutors, investigators and auditors to boost the fraud unit.

Other cases of improperly claimed payments from the government health program for the poor include shutting down a scheme to distribute black market prescription HIV drugs through a Long Island-based pharmacy and bill the program over $155 million.

Budget documents show New York spent nearly $54 billion for Medicaid in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

The 2012 settlements exceed the attorney general's entire $220 million budget for this year.

©2012 AP All Rights Reserved

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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