A March 24 article in Wolters Kluwer’s Health Law Daily, “STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES: Pandemic response, fraud and abuse top Biden’s enforcement priorities,” quoted healthcare industry experts who predict increased enforcement in the areas of fraud and abuse, False Claims Act (FCA) cases, and pandemic-related waivers. Rivkin Radler’s Robert Hussar was quoted in the article.
Among Bob’s insights were:
- “The swift and significant shift of enforcement activity and resources away from areas such as immigration and election issues will free up significant resources and allow independent career prosecutors to return to their familiar and long-standing roles of pursuing unscrupulous providers.”
- “I also foresee a significant uptick in FCA cases with a particular focus on fraud and abuse related to stimulus measures passed to combat the coronavirus pandemic measures passed to combat the coronavirus pandemic.”
- After the many emergency regulatory waivers promulgated to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, “providers should anticipate further scrutiny, including more intense audit initiatives beyond typical medical documentation reviews, in an effort to identify and combat fraud, waste, and abuse.”
- “The next four years will clearly demonstrate that we are at the early stages of a rising tide of consumer protection measures. Price transparency, protections against surprise billing, and HHS’s OCR Right to Access audits will be just a few of a multitude of policy initiatives and enforcement efforts to empower and protect patients.”