DES MOINES — Two former directors of a major state agency took to microphones Friday to criticize the newly appointed Medicaid Fraud Elimination Task Force, saying it was a political move and a “sham” and that better options were available.
“This new task force is a sham,” former U.S. Attorney Kevin Techau said. “Iowa didn't need another committee to tell us Medicaid fraud exists or teach us how to fight it. We already know how — fund the fraud fighters, enforce the False Claim Act, follow the money, and prosecute the cases.”
Techau, a former director of the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing (DIAL) and former commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety from 2002 to 2007, held a news conference Friday in Des Moines with Dean Lerner, a former Iowa Assistant Attorney General and former director of DIAL.
Leaning on their experience combating healthcare fraud, the two outlined their concerns with the new task force and laid out alternative recommendations for the state
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an executive order July 1 creating a Medicaid Fraud Elimination Task Force. The group is to recommend ways to address fraud, waste and abuse in Iowa’s Medicaid program. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading the task force, which held its first meeting July 15.
Techau and Lerner said modern analytics can help determine Medicaid fraud cases in the state. They also claimed the state has not been using the False Claims Act to its full potential.
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