National organizations, including AARP, are endorsing the bipartisan “Seniors and Taxpayers Obligation Protection (STOP) Act,” which is awaiting senate vote. Sponsored by Senators Mel Martinez (R-FL), Bill Nelson (D-FL) and John Cornyn (R-TX), this legislation is aimed at curbing the billions of dollars spent on Medicare fraud each year.

Senators backing the bill say it would help to improve Health and Human Services’s (HHS’s) detection methods and place billing statements under increased scrutiny.

If it becomes law, HHS would identify the 50 counties most vulnerable to fraud and take a watch dog approach to carefully monitoring these designated “high-risk” fraud areas.

Among the many things it would do, the legislation would require that HHS establish a tracking system for certain durable medical equipment, and change the current system of using social security numbers as the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier used on Medicare cards.

To learn more about the bill, go to http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-3164&tab=summary or http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s3164/show.

For more information about qui tam law and health care fraud, contact Nolan and Auerbach, PA. .