HHS on Wednesday named New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's (D) Medicaid fraud control unit the best in the U.S., the New York Daily News reports. According to the HHS Office of Inspector General, Cuomo's office "clearly demonstrated its outstanding ability to effectively and efficiently detect, investigate and prosecute Medicaid provider fraud and patient abuse and neglect."

In 2008, the office won 143 convictions in cases involving Medicaid provider fraud and patient abuse -- the highest total in the last five years. New York state recovered $263.5 million in civil damages and criminal restitution, which more than exceeds the combined amounts collected in 2006 and 2007. According to HHS, the return on investment in 2008 was approximately $6.64 for every federal dollar spent on the investigations.

Cuomo said, "In the current economic crisis, this mission of preventing fraud, waste and abuse in our Medicaid system has become more essential than ever" (Lovett, New York Daily News, 5/7).

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