Press Release

Congressman Ami Bera, M.D. today joined with 23 other Members of Congress from both parties to introduce the Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME) Act of 2015 to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid.

"As a doctor, I know how important it is to both strengthen Medicare for our seniors and reduce runaway health care costs," said Bera. "The PRIME Act does just that, ensuring that criminals can't take advantage of the system and resources get to the people who need them. It's a commonsense, bipartisan bill that will save billions of taxpayer dollars."

Each of the provisions in the PRIME Act is meant to increase or enhance Medicare and Medicaid integrity efforts. Among its provisions, the bill would:

Enact stronger penalties for Medicare and Medicaid fraud
Curb improper or mistaken payments made by Medicare and Medicaid
Establish stronger fraud and waste prevention strategies within Medicare and Medicaid to help phase out the practice of "pay and chase"
Curb the theft of physician identities
Expand the fraud identification and reporting work of the Senior Medicare Patrol
Take steps to help states identify and prevent Medicaid overpayments
Improve the sharing of anti-fraud data across state and federal agencies and programs

The PRIME Act has strong bipartisan support. Its co-sponsors include: Bera, Peter Roskam (R-IL), John Carney (D-DE), Diane Black (R-TN), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Jim Cooper (D-TN), Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), John Delaney (D-MD), Richard Hanna (R-NY), Jim Himes (D-CT), Randy Hultgren (R-IL), David Joyce (R-OH), Ron Kind (D-WI), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Pete Olson (R-TX), Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Scott Peters (D-CA), Jim Renacci (R-OH), Reid Ribble (R-WI), Tom Rooney (R-FL), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Steve Womack (R-AR).

Bera has represented Sacramento County in Congress since 2013. Born and raised in California, he is a physician and the only Indian American currently serving in Congress. He's fighting to rebuild an economy that works for middle class families and to reduce our country's debt in a responsible way. One of Bera's first acts in Congress was to help lead the effort to pass the No Budget No Pay Act, which says if members of Congress don't pass a budget, they don't get paid. As a leader of the No Labels' Problem Solvers, he's working with people from both parties to find bipartisan solutions to our nation's challenges. He and his wife Janine live in Elk Grove with their daughter Sydra. For more updates on Rep. Bera follow @RepBera on Twitter, like Congressman Bera on Facebook, or visit https://www.bera.house.gov.