Medicaid Fraud Whistlebower Program

As you read the following New York Times article on whistle-blowers, replace the word "tax" with "Medicaid ". Then replace the I.R.S. with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (DHHS OIG) and you have the makings of a child welfare Medicaid fraud whistle-blower program.

Whistle-Blowers Become an Investment Option for Funds

Hedge funds have found a new market to invest in: whistle-blowers.

Informants who turn in tax cheats have to wait years to get their share of any reward from the I.R.S.’s recently expanded whistle-blower program. So hedge funds, private equity groups and other big investors are offering an alternative. They are essentially agreeing to buy a percentage of those future payouts in exchange for a smaller amount upfront to the whistle-blowers, David Kocieniewski reports in The New York Times.

The surging size of the potential awards is driving all the interest. Three years ago, the I.R.S. began offering bigger rewards — 15 percent to 30 percent of whatever money the government recovered — in a move that has turbocharged the agency’s whistle-blower program...more