States Would Be Forced to Recover Staggering $11B in Food Stamp Overpayments Under Proposed Law; Doctor Charged with Defrauding COVID Healthcare Program of $150 Million, and other C-Virus related stories

States would be forced to recover staggering $11B in food stamp overpayments under proposed law:

A proposed law would force states to recover billions of dollars from waste and fraud in the federal food stamps program that were ignored during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A staggering $11 billion in overpayments were delivered to recipients in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as the food stamps program, according to 2022 federal data — up from $3.4 billion in 2019.

Nearly 80% of improper payments were the result of errors made by the state agency.

But the US Department of Agriculture and states that administer food stamp aid to recipients all but abandoned clawing back the funds since 2019 — before the COVID-19 pandemic, said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

The feds exempted states from even reporting data on overpayments and error rates in 2020 and 2021 during the outbreak.

The overpayment rate skyrocketed nationally from 6.18% in 2018 to 9.84% in fiscal year 2022.

In New York, the overpayment rate was even higher — surging from 5.9% in 2019 to 10.35% in 2022.

Ernst said the true cost is unknown because overpayment errors totaling $54 or less per recipient are exempt from collection. --->READ MORE HERE

Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times

O.C. doctor charged with defrauding COVID healthcare program of $150 million:

An Orange County doctor was charged last week of allegedly defrauding a federal COVID-19 healthcare program for uninsured patients by submitting false claims in a scheme that netted him about $150 million, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Anthony Hao Dinh, 64, of Newport Beach is facing 12 counts of wire fraud, five counts of money laundering and a count of obstructing justice. Dinh, a licensed doctor of osteopathy and an ear, nose and throat specialist, is out of custody on a $7-million bond, according to prosecutors and court records.

Dinh was initially charged in a criminal complaint filed in April. The grand jury indictment last week expands the case by increasing the total amount in fraudulent claims Dinh allegedly submitted and adding money laundering and obstruction charges. Prosecutors claim this is the largest fraud scheme in the nation targeting Health Resources and Services Administration's uninsured program that authorities have uncovered.

Prosecutors allege that over the course of nine months — from July 2020 to March 2021 — Dinh submitted more than a quarter-billion dollars in fraudulent claims to the Health Resources and Services Administration as part of a program aimed to provide access for COVID-19 testing and treatment to uninsured patients during the pandemic. The program was also designed to help support healthcare providers by reimbursing them for care provided to those without medical insurance.

Some of the claims Dinh filed were for patients who had medical insurance, while others reported services that were not rendered or were not medically necessary, according to prosecutors. --->READ MORE HERE

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Man convicted of stealing $1.9 million in COVID-19 relief money gets more than 5 years in prison

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WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates

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