NCJ Number
81888
Date Published
1981
Length
82 pages
Annotation
This 1980 annual year report presents the activities and achievements of the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the area of benefits fraud.
Abstract
The report covers these areas: health, income maintenance and assistance, human services, higher education, and administration. Each section presents the highlights of the activities of the auditors, investigators, and system analysts. In 1980, audit reports identified some $80 million in proposed adjustments. The Office of Investigations was responsible for 137 indictments, 145 convictions, and $4.7 million in savings through recoveries, fines, and restitutions for calendar year 1980. A small, interdisciplinary staff of physicians, lawyers, operations researchers, and program and management analysts was established to address antifraud and antiabuse activities in health and human services programs. Highlights of the staff's activities in 1980 were (1) review of debt collection practices in Public Health Service loan, scholarship, and award programs; (2) development of a management training program in fraud and waste prevention; and (3) independent review of the Tuskegee syphilis study, which revealed that deficiencies still existed in the way the Department selected and instructed staff serving on review panels. Tabular data are provided.