a. The State of New Jersey expends more than $9 billion in taxpayer funds to fund the Medicaid program each year;

b. The State has a continuing responsibility to ensure that funds expended under the Medicaid program are used appropriately and efficiently to promote the public health;

c. Fraud, waste, and abuse by providers and recipients in the Medicaid program reduces the ability of the State to properly fund the program and results in harm to the health of the citizens of this State;

d. Controlling fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicaid program includes preventing, detecting, and investigating such fraud, waste, and abuse, and referring it for civil or criminal action when appropriate;

e. The current system for controlling Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse is based largely on formal and informal agreements among the Department of Human Services, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Department of Law and Public Safety, the Department of Health and other local, State, and federal agencies whose clients are served by the Medicaid program or who are otherwise responsible for the control of Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse;

f. Centralizing fraud recovery efforts and establishing an independent Office of the Medicaid Inspector General by statute to prevent, detect, and investigate fraud and abuse and coordinate the anti-fraud efforts of all State agencies funded by Medicaid will enhance the efforts of the State to control Medicaid costs;

g. The current efforts to control Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse in New Jersey range from investigating providers before they enroll in the Medicaid program to identifying fraud, waste, and abuse on the part of both providers and recipients;

h. Changes in federal and State law, as well as in the health care industry and in available technology, suggest that it is time for a comprehensive review of the Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse control infrastructure in this State;

i. Toward that end, the Governor has appointed the New Jersey Commission on Government Efficiency and Reform to evaluate the budget, structure, and organization of government in New Jersey, including State agencies, instrumentalities and independent authorities, local and county government and school districts, and advise the Governor on governmental restructuring, effectiveness, best practices, efficiencies, cost-saving measures, and how best to achieve economies of scale in the delivery of services and programs, at the lowest possible cost, consistent with mission and quality; and

j. While the State examines and prepares to implement such fundamental, long-term structural changes, the immediate coordination of State efforts to control Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse at all levels of government is essential.

L.2007, c.58, s.2; amended 2012, c.17, s.392.