The Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team – In May 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder pledged to fight waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare with the creation of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT). With the creation of HEAT, fighting Medicare fraud has become a top priority for both Department of Justice (DOJ) and HHS. Its Mission was to assemble and strengthen significant resources across government entities to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs and crack down on the fraud perpetrators who are abusing the system and stealing billions of dollars.
To reduce skyrocketing health care costs and improve the quality of care by ridding the system of perpetrators who are preying on Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and harming the short-term and long-term solvency of these essential programs.
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