Anti-Fraud Record: Per Dollar Spent, $8 Recovered

And the health-care fraud records just keep coming: The government last year recovered a record $4.2 billion that was stolen or illegally obtained from federal health-care programs, reports USA Today. That brings the since-2010 equation to this: $7.90 has been recouped via fines and legal judgments for each dollar spent in the health-care fraud crackdown, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. More impressive figures:

• The government wiped nearly 10% of the nation's 1.5 million Medicare providers from Medicare's billing system last year.

• All told, over the past four years, the Health Care Fraud and Abuse program has recovered $14.9 billion, up from $6.7 billion in the four years prior.
• Some 826 defendants were convicted of health care fraud-related crimes last year.

"This fight against fraud strengthens the integrity of our health-care programs and helps us fulfill our commitment to our seniors," said Sebelius in a statement. (More Health and Human Services stories.)