Iowa Task Force Recommends Civil False Claims Unit, More Fraud Staff
Iowa's Medicaid Fraud Elimination Task Force, convened by Gov. Kim Reynolds, finalized recommendations to Attorney General Brenna Bird calling for a new civil fraud team to pursue cases under the Iowa False Claims Act, more than doubling the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit's staff from 9 to 24, and creating a "Medicaid Fraud War Room" to suspend suspect provider payments within 24 hours. Other recommendations include revalidating high-risk providers, deactivating inactive providers, and building a program integrity technology unit within the state health agency to track fraud-fighting tool performance. Former state officials criticized the task force as "political theater," arguing the AG could have pursued False Claims Act cases without a task force. The draft recommendations now go to Reynolds for consideration.