Can you hear me now? Reporting fraud in Florida

by: CHARLES FIEGL May 27, 2009

Medicare's fraud, waste and abuse hotline (866-417-2078) in Florida doesn't always work, according to one good Samaritan and Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.).

The Miami Herald recently ran a short item about how one caller received a busy signal or was hung-up on when they called to report fraud. CMS told the newspaper because of the number of calls the hotline receives, the pilot program is not fully functional. CMS is planning to upgrade the line this summer.

Here's a letter from Martinez questioning the hotline's functionality.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Department of Justice Attorney General Eric Holder recently announced they're implementing fraud task forces, similar to ones operating in south Florida and Los Angeles, in Detroit and Houston. A Web site for the initiative lists this contact information to report fraud:

HHSTips@oig.hhs.gov
1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477)

To comment, login here.

Login

User Name:
Password:
Remember me Forgot password
Welcome to the new Part B News Online. If you are a returning user having trouble logging in, please click here.