Nebraska Medicaid Fraud Unit Recoups $20M

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Unit recovered more than $20 million from fraudulent Medicaid claims filed by service providers and drug companies in 2012.

Attorney General Jon Bruning said Monday the funds will be used to reimburse Medicaid for losses and cover legal fees for individual cases.

Bruning says he will not tolerate false Medicaid claims that take Nebraska state tax dollars. In one case, the unit returned more than $3.7 million from Abbott Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company.

The Medicaid Fraud Unit has recovered more than $64.8 million since it was created by the Nebraska Legislature to investigate Medicaid provider fraud and patient abuse in 2004. In 2011, the unit recouped more than $6.1 million.