FTC Extends Enforcement Deadline for Identity Theft Red Flags Rule
At the request of Members of Congress, the Federal Trade Commission is delaying enforcement of the “Red Flags” Rule until June 1, 2010, for financial institutions and creditors subject to enforcement by the FTC.
The Rule was promulgated under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, in which Congress directed the Commission and other agencies to develop regulations requiring “creditors” and “financial institutions” to address the risk of identity theft. The resulting Red Flags Rule requires all such entities that have “covered accounts” to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs to help identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities – known as “red flags” – that could indicate identity theft.
Read the complete article on the deadline extension for Identity Theft Red Flag Rules
Feds say they recovered $1 billion in fiscal 2008
The U.S. Justice Department and HHS’ inspector general’s office recovered $1 billion in judgments and settlements in fiscal 2008 for the federal government, according to the annual report of the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, the departments are required to coordinate and issue reports on their efforts to fight fraud perpetrated against federal health programs. The reports are generally issued about a year after the close of the fiscal year they cover. In fiscal 2008, about $1.94 billion was returned to the Medicare Trust Fund as a result of enforcement actions in that year and previous years, and $344 million in Medicaid funds was returned to the U.S. Treasury. U.S. attorneys, meanwhile, opened 957 new criminal cases involving healthcare fraud, filed criminal charges against 797 defendants and won 588 convictions. The Justice Department’s civil division opened 843 new healthcare fraud investigations.
Modern Healthcare by Gregg Blesch, October 23, 2009
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