Washington, DC – Today, House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) released the Protecting Integrity in Medicare Act of 2014 (PIMA), a discussion draft aimed at combating fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicare program so that it can better serve Americans.

Upon releasing the discussion draft, Chairman Brady made the following statement:

“I’m pleased to release a discussion draft of the Protecting Integrity in Medicare Act (PIMA) of 2014.  This draft bill builds off the bipartisan work highlighted during an April 2014 Ways and Means Health Subcommittee hearing and is an important step to taking a strong stand against the rampant fraud, waste, and abuse that currently plagues the Medicare program.
 
“Every senior in America is affected by Medicare fraud, waste, and abuse.  It is devastating for those personally harmed, drives up premiums and hastens insolvency for others.  Members from both sides of the aisle have bills and ideas to address the system’s deficiencies to better protect seniors from fraud, waste, and abuse.  
 
“According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), $44 billion of the $574 billion Medicare paid to providers in 2012 was lost to improperly paid claims or fraudulent activity.  The current system of pay-and-chase is clearly not working.  Larger system changes are still needed, but the policies crafted here take steps to kick-start the process.
 
“This draft includes bipartisan priorities, ranging from finally removing social security numbers from Medicare cards, a priority for Sam Johnson and Lloyd Doggett, to provisions of Peter Roskam’s bipartisan PRIME Act which would increase efficiencies and education for providers to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse within the system.
 
“This is a discussion draft.  We look forward to hearing from stakeholders with their comments and concerns.  I also look forward to working with my colleagues in the House, on a bipartisan basis, to strengthen this legislation to ensure we can get strong, anti-fraud provision signed into law this year.   Our goal is for the legislation to save money but, at a minimum, it needs to be cost neutral.   
 
“The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has done some good work that moves in the right direction, but we must do more to protect the Medicare program and our nation’s seniors.”

Chairman Brady welcomes stakeholders to submit questions or comments on the discussion draft to nyu@mail.house.gov by September 1, 2014.

A summary of the discussion draft can be viewed here.

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