Fighting Medicare Fraud: Gov't Sets Up Multi-Million Dollar War Room - East Idaho News
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Fighting Medicare Fraud: Gov’t Sets Up Multi-Million Dollar War Room

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getty 080112 MedicareFraud?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1343847713009iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Medicare fraud costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year — but now the government says it has developed a powerful, new tool that can stop Medicare scam artists in their tracks.

It’s a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art war room in a secret location — but it’s not a CIA facility. This war room is dedicated to stopping sophisticated Medicare scams.

“Preventing fraud and abuse is really what this effort is all about,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Sophisticated computer programs at this new command center can scan millions of Medicare transactions in real time, Sebelius says, then identify and stop payment on fraudulent claims before a dollar of taxpayer money goes out the door.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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