Proposed Medicaid fraud rules worry providers

Texas's Health and Human Services Commission is seeking formal approval for new Medicaid fraud rules that doctors allege deny them due process and expand investigators' power to halt their funding. For months, HHSC's Office of the Inspector General has been increasingly relying on a federal rule—part of President Obama's healthcare plan—that allows the agency to freeze financing to any health provider accused of overbilling Medicaid. That means they can halt the flow of funding before they complete a full-fledged investigation, and often, providers say, before doctors are given any chance to defend themselves.