Retirees will probe Medicare abuse

The government soon will look to volunteers to perform oversight of the health care industry on a local level. The federal Department of Health and Human Services in Rockville, MD, recently announced a program the Health Care Anti-Fraud, Waste and Abuse Community Volunteers Demonstration Projects that will recruit and train retired professionals to identify deceptive practices such as overbilling and providing unnecessary or inappropriate services in Medicare and Medicaid programs. Doctors, nurses, accountants, attorneys, and teachers will be among the project’s participants who will work with Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in their own communities. The work will complement the department’s other antifraud efforts, including Operation Restore Trust, which helps older Americans get the information they need to identify and report potential fraudulent practices.