AG announces record Medicaid fraud recovery

By Globe Staff

The state attorney general's office recovered $26.7 million in settlements and judgments in Medicaid fraud cases last year, the highest amount in three decades.

"Our office has been very successful in its aggressive pursuit of those who steal from the taxpayers of Massachusetts by defrauding the state's Medicaid program," Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement.

The previous high was $19.4 million in 2005, said attorney general's spokesman Harry Pierre.

Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that provides health insurance for low-income people. The fraud cases typically involve companies that bill the program for services never rendered or medications never dispensed.

The attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Division was formed as the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in 1978. Money recovered by the unit is returned to the Medicaid program.

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