Richard Shelby

For lobbyists, lawyers, and Government bureaucrats, Dodd-Frank is providing to be a gold mine.

Eight months later, the sober realities of what Dodd-Frank will mean for our economy, I believe, are now setting in.

The President declared that the Act would provide certainty to our markets and lift our economy to a more prosperous future.

If it's individual fraud, they ought to be prosecuted. If it's corporate fraud, they ought to be prosecuted, not just pay the fine.

I have a number of questions for the record, Doctor.

I mean, they're cheating some beneficiary that might be in need----

It cannot be that a company sees healthcare fraud enforcement, law enforcement, imposing a fine as a cost of doing business.

The Medicare trust fund is estimated to be exhausted in 2029.

I look forward to working with you.

I'm glad to join you here as, you, the chairman of the subcommittee, and this is my first day as ranking member.

The one thing everyone agrees on is that anti-fraud efforts have not begun to keep pace with the scope of the problem.

This is a success story we should be proud of.

We in Congress have a responsibility to do whatever we can to prevent that from happening.

I want to thank you especially for calling this hearing to discuss how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the DOJ fights fraud and waste in Medicare and Medicaid.

Unfortunately, House Republicans seem determined to undermine these efforts.

On average, every $1 that the Federal Government spent on these efforts returned $6.80 to the U.S. Treasury.

And when people cheat, they're cheating everybody else, aren't they?

A lot of it's basic--not basic for yesterday, but for tomorrow--information technology, the explosion is, and you're using those tools, are you not?

Would you expand on some of these emerging fraud schemes and how fraud and abuse has evolved?

We know we have some difficult issues and difficult days ahead.

The total Medicare expenditures were $509 billion in 2009, and because of an aging population and overall increases in medical costs, expenditures are projected to increase in future years at a faster pace than our economy.

This funding is critically needed.

I think my people in Alabama, just like Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and others, they are interested in a fair process.

I would never want you to pay one cent that was not meritorious.

A lot of people have complained, especially in Baldwin County, about partial claims, and they are desperate for the money.