The New York Times on Tuesday examined Medicaid fraud in New York and how the issue has become a focus in the campaign between Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) and Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi (D) for the Democratic nomination for governor. According to the Times, Suozzi has criticized Spitzer for failing to do enough to investigate and punish those who defraud New York's Medicaid program. However, Spitzer says that Medicaid fraud estimates in the state have been exaggerated and that his administration has done more to address the issue than other attorneys general in New York. According to the Times, different analyses show that funds recovered from Medicaid fraud cases brought by Spitzer's office through 2003 were about average or "well below average" compared with other states. The numbers are "far higher than what was collected" by Spitzer's predecessor, and collections have "soared since 2003," the Times reports. In fiscal years 2004 and 2005, New York's Medicaid fraud unit recovered $85.5 million and $219.1 million, respectively, compared with about $35.5 million in 2003 and $10.6 million in 1999. Meanwhile, "[e]xperts around the country praise New York's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit" and "caution that state-by-state comparisons can be misleading," in part because of New York laws that put Spitzer's office at a disadvantage, the Times reports. For example, New York does not have a state law that allows individuals to sue for Medicaid fraud. The 15 states with such laws can bring state prosecutors into whistleblower cases and use other tools to prosecute Medicaid fraud (Perez-Pena, New York Times, 4/11).

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