WASHINGTON--At the June 2 American Association for Homecare’s Legislative Conference, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he hoped any health care reform legislation put together by Congress would include Medicare anti-fraud initiatives.
 
Along with Sen. Mel Martinez, R- Fla., Cornyn introduced an anti-fraud bill called the Senior and Taxpayers Obligation Protection (STOP) Act (S. 975) in May. The proposed legislation includes measures that would stop fraud in the government’s health programs “on the front end,” Cornyn said, rather than trying to recoup inappropriate payments.
 
The bill includes a number of provisions outlined in AAHomecare’s 13-point anti-fraud proposal, which the group recommended to lawmakers in February. 
 
Among others, those points include better screening of providers before enrollment and real-time analysis of claims data (similar to that used in the analysis of credit card charges) to pinpoint billing patterns that could indicate fraud or abuse.
 
On the larger health care reform debate, Cornyn said lawmakers should not be in such a hurry to get a bill to the White House.
 
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has said he wants a bill ready for Senate approval by July. “I can't imagine how we're going to meet that timetable,” said Cornyn, who serves on the committee. He told the AAHomecare audience he thought not taking more time in putting the massive reform package together could result in “mistakes.”
 
Read the text of the STOP Act here.
 
For more on AAHomecare’s 13-point plan, see “One More Time: AAHomecare Rolls Out Anti-Fraud Plan,” Feb. 11.