Indiana Uses Whistleblowers to Step up Enforcement of Medicaid Fraud

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has started a program called "Blow the Whistle on Medicaid Fraud". The program encourages people with knowledge of fraud, especially those working in health care, to come forward with information of wrongdoing.

The US Department of Health and Human Services has similar programs attempting to reign in the estimated 15 to 30 percent of all Medicare and Medicaid billables which are fraudulent. These programs allow private citizens to file a lawsuit on behalf of the government against a provider or company, like a hospital.

In turn for the whistleblower's help, the government can give a substantial finder's fee to the citizen bringing the lawsuit, often as high as 15 to 30 percent.