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 In a letter to Secretary Alexander Azar, Representatives Lloyd
Doggett and Katie Porter accused the department of evading questions
about how it decided to dole out $50 billion for its provider relief
fund and demanded answers about how the funds will be clawed back
from possible fraudsters.
Reuters reported exclusively this month that HHS had sent Medicare
providers under criminal and civil investigations stimulus money,
after it direct-deposited $30 billion into the bank accounts of any
medical provider who billed Medicare for services in 2019.
Doggett and Porter cited Reuters' reporting in their letter.
"Funds meant for frontliners went to hospitals previously closed,
mega-corporations, and possible fraudsters," Doggett said in a
statement. "The Trump Administration should immediately provide a
full accounting of how these millions landed, as they so often do
with this Administration, in the pockets of corporate interests and
those under investigation for fraud."
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An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the
letter.
Reuters could not determine what portion of the recipients are facing such
inquiries.
After sending the funds, HHS asked all the providers to sign a lengthy
attestation that stipulates they have been or will be treating patients
suffering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Those who do not respond by HHS' deadline will be assumed to have accepted the
terms and conditions.
HHS previously told Reuters it has mechanisms in place to recoup the funds and
address fraud.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Marisa Taylor; Editing by Scott Malone and
Chizu Nomiyama)
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