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New Report Highlights More than $165 Million in MFCU Recoveries

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A newly released report shows Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is recovering millions of lost Medicaid dollars. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General report highlights more than $165 million in recoveries by the MFCU during federal fiscal year 2015-2016.

“My Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigators work tirelessly to stop Medicaid fraud and recover stolen funds for taxpayers,” said Attorney General Bondi. “This report sends the strong message that we will continue to aggressively pursue anyone trying to defraud Florida’s Medicaid program.”

Since taking office in 2011, Attorney General Bondi’s MFCU has obtained more than half a billion dollars in settlements and judgments. The unit investigates and prosecutes providers that intentionally defraud the state’s Medicaid program through fraudulent billing practices. Additionally, the MFCU investigates allegations of patient abuse, neglect and exploitation in facilities receiving payments under the Medicaid program.

Each year HHS OIG publishes a report of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit statistical data for the preceding federal fiscal year. According to the report, Florida ranked second in the nation in total recoveries for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

To view HHS OIG’s report, click here.

The Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigates and prosecutes providers that intentionally defraud the state’s Medicaid program through fraudulent billing practices. Medicaid fraud essentially steals from Florida’s taxpayers. From Jan. 2011 to the present, Attorney General Bondi’s MFCU has obtained more than $500 million in settlements and judgments. Additionally, the MFCU investigates allegations of patient abuse, neglect, and exploitation in facilities receiving payments under the Medicaid program.

Nelson files bill to combat ID-theft related tax fraud

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U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) today reintroduced legislation aimed at combating ID theft-related tax fraud.
The legislation seeks to deter criminals who commit tax fraud using a stolen identity by increasing penalties on both identity thieves, and on paid tax preparers who fail to keep taxpayers’ identifying information secure. It would also expand the agency’s PIN program designed to provide taxpayers an extra level of security, and would direct the IRS to speed up the time it takes the agency to resolve ID-theft cases so victims can get their refunds sooner.
“These fraudsters are costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars every year,” Nelson said. “This bill would help us crack down on these thieves, while also making it easier for those whose identities are stolen to get the refunds they’re owed.”
Nelson’s bill would increase the maximum fine criminals could face for filing a fraudulent tax return with someone else’s identity from $100,000 to $250,000. It would also increase the penalty for tax preparers who fail to protect their clients’ information from $250 per incident to $1,000.
According to the IRS, more than 1.8 million people were victims of tax-related identity theft in 2015 alone – including over 190,000 people in Florida, more than any other state.
A Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report released that year found that in 2013, taxpayers whose identities were stolen waited, on average, over 9 months to get their claims resolved by the IRS – with some waiting as long as two years.
To speed up the time it takes the IRS to resolve these type of claims, Nelson’s bill would require the agency to create and implement a more streamlined process for handling ID theft cases.
The legislation, which Nelson filed today, now heads to the Senate Banking Committee for consideration.

A copy of the bill can be found here.

Alley Oop March Madness Traffic in Orlando with Florida 511

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Motorists can download the free mobile app, visit FL511.com or follow #FL511 on Twitter

College basketball fans can use the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) Florida 511 Traveler Information System to arrive safely and on time for each tipoff, as March Madness comes to the Amway Center in Orlando on Thursday, March 16 and Saturday, March 18. 

First- and second-round games of the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament will draw fans from eight universities to Orlando for the event that is cohosted by the University of Central Florida and Stetson University. 

To experience fewer delays, hoops fans can check the interactive road map on FL511.com before leaving to see real-time traffic information and incident alerts in English or Spanish. They can also view roadway cameras showing nearby current driving conditions. 

The free Florida 511 mobile app, available on the Apple App Store or Google Play, also features an interactive map showing traffic speeds and incidents on roadways around the arena. Fans can use the app to select alternate routes. 

Fans also can register on the website or mobile app for a My Florida 511 personalized services account to create a custom door-to-door route to the Amway Center and other favorite destinations. Route-specific text and email alerts can include travel speeds, travel time estimates and information about congestion, construction and incidents. 

Additional ways to receive traffic information from the Florida 511 system include calling 511 toll-free from any phone in the state and following one or more of the statewide, regional or roadway-specific Twitter feeds (#FL511), such as @FL511_Central, @FL_511_I4 and FL511_Turnpike. 

Florida 511 is the state’s official source for traffic and travel information. Check Florida 511 before leaving or have a passenger check during a commute to avoid using a phone while driving.

UT Recognized for Excellence in Supporting Transfer Students

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The University of Tampa has been named to Phi Theta Kappa’s 2017 Transfer Honor Roll, which identifies the top four-year colleges and universities that create dynamic pathways to support community college transfer.
UT is one of only 65 institutions nationwide selected to receive this honor. The selection is based on engagement, collaboration, impact and achievements related to the transfer of community college students as well as partnerships, support, admissions outreach, scholarships/financial aid, student engagement opportunities and institutional priorities.
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, MS, is the largest honor society in higher education. It’s mission is to recognize and encourage the academic achievement of two-year college students while providing opportunities for individual growth and development through participation in honors, leadership, service and fellowship programming.
The University of Tampa is a private, residential university located on 110 acres on the riverfront in downtown Tampa. Known for academic excellence, personal attention and real-world experience in its undergraduate and graduate programs, the University serves 8,310 students from 50 states and 140 countries. Approximately 65 percent of full-time students live on campus, and more than half of UT students are from Florida.

FDLE arrests man for travel reimbursement fraud

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Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Doug Landry, 37, of 28855 Old CC Road, Albany, Louisiana, on one count of organized fraud over $50,000, related to a fictitious over billing scheme.
In 2015, Landry orchestrated an elaborate fraudulent scheme based on his work-related travel expenses. He created fictitious reimbursement receipts, incorporated fraudulent companies, and provided fictitious receipts to his employer, a company located in Pensacola. The company’s accounting department reimbursed Landry for approximately $152,000 from 2015-2016. Landry also utilized his own company, Reign Industries in Louisiana, to further his fraudulent activities in Florida.
FDLE began its investigation in October 2016 with assistance from the Escambia County State Attorney’s Office.  Landry was arrested today by FDLE agents and the Louisiana State Police and booked into the county jail located in Hammond, Louisiana, Tangipahoa Parish.
The case will be prosecuted by the Office of the State Attorney, 1st Judicial Circuit.

Children’s Week Events are Approaching at the State Capitol and Near You

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Partners of Children’s Week will host interactive events throughout the state this month leading up to and following the 22nd Annual Children’s Week at the State Capitol – an advocacy event and celebration for Florida’s children and youth happening March 26-31. Local Children’s Week events will be both fun and educational and include activities such as arts and crafts, live readings, luncheons, outdoor activities, parades and more. You can view a full listing of events by county on the Children’s Week website.Childrens Week

Coinciding with the legislative session, Children’s Week serves as a platform for numerous organizations across the state to advocate for children’s and family issues to Florida lawmakers. On its biggest day, Tuesday, March 28, a variety of free activities for the entire family will take place at the State Capitol. One of the most popular events happening on Tuesday is the interactive Storybook Village hosted by the Early Learning Coalition (ELC) of the Big Bend. This event allows over 2,000 children to see their favorite books come to life through art, music, drama and dance. This year’s Storybook Village theme is “Alphabet Zoo” and every child in attendance will receive a free copy of a book. Children and adults attending are encouraged to dress as their favorite storybook characters.

“Every child deserves to have access to books and every child deserves to be read to regularly. It is our goal that Storybook Village will inspire children and adults alike to read and to read together,” said Morgan Evers, program services manager for the ELC of the Big Bend and coordinator of the Storybook Village. “It’s a place where some children may hear a book read aloud for the first time and others will go home with their very first book. In a short time, Storybook Village has exponentially grown thanks to our amazing partners who donate time, effort, creativity, volunteers and supplies.”

In addition to the Storybook Village happening on Tuesday, there also will be free Starbucks coffee in the morning, grab-and-go breakfast by Farmshare, a free lunch presented by Sunshine Health, over 100 exhibitor booths to visit, a town hall meeting, youth advocacy workshop for middle and high school students and a chance to hear from legislators. 

For more information about Children’s Week and events in your community, please visit www.childrensweek.org.

Florida Senate Passes Legislation to Require Unanimous Verdict in Death Penalty Cases

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The Florida Senate today passed Senate Bill 280, Sentencing for Capital Felonies, by Senator Randolph Bracy (D-Ocoee), which revises sentencing requirements in capital felony cases to require a unanimous jury verdict, rather than a certain number of jurors, for a sentencing recommendation of death.
“This legislation ensures that our state has a constitutionally-compliant system of justice in place for both the families of victims and the individuals charged with serious crimes,” said Senator Bracy. “This important legislation removes ambiguity from our death penalty statute, which will help reduce delays in due process for all parties involved in death penalty cases.”
“This legislation satisfies the constitutional requirements announced by the Court in the Hurst and Perry opinions, and is consistent with the position the Senate took last year when we considered legislation requiring a unanimous jury verdict in capital cases,” said Senate President Joe Negron (R-Stuart). “This bill will make certain that death penalty cases in Florida proceed in a timely manner.”
In October 2016, the Florida Supreme Court determined in Hurst v. State that in order for the death penalty to be imposed, the sentencing phase jury must vote unanimously for a death sentence. The Hurst v. State ruling was applied to the 2016 death penalty sentencing statutes challenged in Perry v. State.

Distinguished archaeologist Kathleen Deagan named to Flagler College Board of Trustees

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Kathleen Deagan, Distinguished Research Curator Emerita at University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History, has been elected to the Flagler College Board of Trustees.

Kathleen Deagan
Kathleen Deagan

Deagan is well known for her archaeological research of the Spanish colonial period in Florida and the Caribbean. She has conducted extensive archaeological digs in St. Augustine since 1972, including the identification and excavations of Ft. Mose, America’s first free black community, and Florida’s first Spanish settlement.
Flagler Board of Trustees Chairman Frank Upchurch said Deagan is a natural fit for the Board and will bring a wealth of academic experience.
“It is an honor to have Kathy Deagan join the Board of Trustees,” he said. “She has had a distinguished academic career, and is highly-respected in both her field and throughout the community. She has devoted her life to higher education, and that experience will be invaluable on the Board.”
Deagan has always had a close relationship with Flagler through her frequent field schools in St. Augustine that often included Flagler students and her involvement in the Flagler-based Historic St. Augustine Research Institute.
“I love the Flagler mission,” she said, adding that she has the highest respect for the college’s focus on the liberal arts and its emphasis on citizenship and critical thinking.
Deagan received her Ph.D. in 1974 from University of Florida, and after teaching at Florida State University in its Anthropology Department for eight years, joined University of Florida’s faculty in 1982.
Since 1979, she has worked at Spanish colonial sites in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. She has directed excavations in collaboration with Jose M. Cruxent at Christopher Colombus’ first town in America, La Isabela, and has also directed archaeological programs at Concepcion de la Vega (1496-1562) in the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Real, Haiti (1502-1578). Deagan has also worked since 1983 at the site of En Bas Saline, Haiti, a large Taino town thought to have been the location of La Navidad, Columbus’s first fort, in 1492. She has been a consultant on historic preservation and archaeology projects in Spain, Venezuela, Panama, Peru, Jamaica and Honduras.
Deagan is the author of eight books and more than 65 scientific papers. She was named “Alumna of Outstanding Distinction” by University of Florida in 1998, and is a recipient of the Society for Historical Archaeology’s J.C. Harrington Award for Lifetime Distinction in Historical Archaeology. She was awarded the “Order of La Florida” by the City of St. Augustine in 2007 for distinguished service to the city.

ICYMI: Editorial: Heroin epidemic needs Gov. Rick Scott, Pam Bondi fix

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Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi should show leadership on heroin crisis.
In 2011, Gov. Rick Scott declared a statewide public health emergency to combat the pill-mill crisis that was killing seven people a day.
Six years later, Florida faces an even deadlier killer. This time it’s heroin, which is killing 10 people a day.
As he did with Zika last summer, we urge the governor to recognize the heroin epidemic for what it is — a public health emergency in urgent need of greater funding, increased awareness and wider distribution of naloxone, a drug used to treat overdoses.
“There is no family, no race, no ethnicity, no income level this epidemic cannot touch — and no effective state bulwark in place to stop it,” Senate Democratic Leader Oscar Braynon of Miami Gardens wrote in a letter to the governor.
Indeed, Marion County Commissioner Kathy Bryant — this year’s president of the Florida Association of Counties — lost her brother, Daniel, to an overdose last July. She’s not the only county commissioner who’s lost someone to heroin, either. The association made addressing the opioid epidemic one of its top five priorities this year.
“People don’t think it’s people like you and me, and that’s just not the case,” says Bryant, of Ocala. “It’s everywhere. It’s one of those drugs that’s extremely hard to get away from once you start it.”
The association is seeking more money for mental health care and substance abuse, knowing addicts don’t generally have insurance for treatment and families can afford only so much. They also want to ensure ambulances are stocked with naloxone, noting some South Florida fire departments can’t afford it. And they seek tougher penalties for people who sell heroin, a good goal, though it’s hard to believe tougher penalties will stop sales. Sure, longer sentences could keep dealers off the streets longer, but the painful truth is that addicts will find another supplier.
In other states that have declared public health emergencies, like Virginia, anyone can now obtain naloxone at pharmacies without a prescription, which lets families and friends be prepared to help people in the throes of an overdose. And Massachusetts released $20 million two years ago to get more addicts into treatment.
Sadly, the rise in heroin abuse is associated with the closure of the pain-pill clinics. Plus, heroin is increasingly compounded with fentanyl, a synthetic drug that can be lethal at low doses. Bad batches and uncertainty about potency are part of what’s causing so many deaths.
Between 2013 and 2014, the Florida Medical Examiners Commission says deaths from heroin increased 124 percent. The next year, heroin deaths rose 80 percent. The trend shows no sign of ebbing.
Beyond the human toll, the costs are staggering.
The Palm Beach Post investigated the crisis and reports some stunning numbers:

  • In the first nine months of 2015, Florida hospitals charged $1.1 billion for heroin-related visits, with many of those bills going unpaid.
  • From 2010 to 2015, Florida hospitals charged $5.7 billion for heroin-related visits, including $2.1 billion to the state Medicaidprogram.
  • In those same five years, hospitals charged $967 million for babies born addicted to heroin. Medicaid was the primary payer in almost all of those cases — $826 million.

Scott spokeswoman Lauren Schenone said in a statement that the administration is listening. Surgeon General Celeste Philip and Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Mike Carroll are scheduled to meet with legislators “to hear their input on the subject.” In Florida, the surgeon general is the person who formally calls a public health emergency.
State health officials should listen hard and make the obvious call. For not only is the heroin epidemic killing people, it’s destroying families and leaving children without parents.
Schenone noted that Scott’s proposed budget includes $4 million for the Florida Violent Crime and Drug Control Council, of which $2 million will “be provided for financial assistance to local law enforcement to conduct investigations related to heroin abuse.”
That’s not nearly enough money. It’s expensive to treat addiction, wage public education campaigns and stock ambulances with emergency drugs.
These last few months, the governor has been waging the fight of his political life to secure $85 million in economic incentives to lure businesses to Florida.
Let us see equal tenacity in fighting for Florida families facing the consequences of addiction.
Let us see Attorney General Pam Bondi show the same muscle she used in fighting pill mills to fight the heroin epidemic.
Let the governor call the heroin epidemic what it is: a public health emergency.
And let Daniel’s family — his sister and brothers, his three children, his parents, everyone — be the last to face the despair of this epidemic on their own.