Title: Public Assistance Fraud

Summary: Revises amount of reward paid by DCF for reporting violation of public assistance fraud laws; provides for department to hold certain recovered overpayments in Federal Grants Trust Fund; authorizes department to establish financial statement reserve; provides for use of reserve funds.

Full Text:
An act relating to public assistance fraud; amending s. 414.39, F.S.; revising the amount of a reward paid by the Department of Children and Families for reporting a violation of public assistance fraud laws; amending s. 414.41, F.S.; providing for the department to hold certain recovered overpayments in the Federal Grants Trust Fund; authorizing the department to establish a financial statement reserve; providing purposes for the reserve; requiring a report to the Legislature; providing for use of reserve funds; amending s. 943.045, F.S.; revising the definition of "criminal justice agency" for purposes of investigating public assistance fraud; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Subsection (11) of section 414.39, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 414.39 Fraud.-(11)(a) Subject to availability of funds, the department or the director of the Office of Public Benefits Integrity shall, unless the person declines the reward, pay a reward to a person who furnishes and reports original information relating HB 2018 to a violation of the state's public assistance fraud laws if the information and report: 1. Are made to the department, the Department of Financial Services, or the Department of Law Enforcement. 2. Relate to criminal fraud upon public assistance program funds or a criminal violation of public assistance fraud laws by another person. 3. Lead to the recovery of a fine, penalty, or forfeiture of property. (b) The reward may not exceed percent of the amount recovered in full by the department or $500,000, whichever is less, in a single case. (c) The reward shall be paid from the state retained share of the recovered overpayments held recovery in the Federal Grants Trust Fund from moneys collected pursuant to s. 414.41. (d) A person who receives a reward pursuant to this subsection is not eligible to receive funds pursuant to the Florida False Claims Act for Medicaid fraud for which the reward was received. Section 2. Subsection (4) is added to section 414.41, Florida Statutes, to read: 414.41 Recovery of payments made due to mistake or fraud.-(4) All collected state-retained sh are of recovered overpayments shall be held in the Federal Grants Trust Fund from which the department is authorized to establish a financial HB 2018 statement reserve. (a) The financial statement reserve shall contain the amount of the state-retained share of collections for a fiscal year minus the operational costs associated with the department's benefit recovery and front-end fraud detection and prevention activities for that year. (b) The purpose of the financial statement reserve is to have funds availabl eto pay public assistance fraud rewards as required pursuant to s. 414.39(11) and to enable reinvestment of funds to support strategies that will produce specific financial outcomes, including, but not limited to, increased collections under this section. (c) Financial statement reserve funds shall be used to pay public assistance fraud rewards and to fund public assistance fraud detection and prevention initiatives that enable the department to respond to and investigate emergent public assistance fraud schemes and threats. (d) By October of each fiscal year, the department shall submit a report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives that includes: 1. The amount of funds in the financial statement reserve. 2. The number and amount of public assistance fraud rewards paid during the previous fiscal year and an estimate of the amount of public assistance fraud rewards to be paid during the next fiscal year. HB 2018 3. A description of specific proposed projects to be supported by the expenditure of such funds, including expected outcomes of the proposed projects, and estimated return on investment for the next fiscal year. 4. Actual outcomes and return on investment associated with projects approved pursuant to par agraph (e). (e) Upon authorization in the General Appropriations Act or similar legislation and notwithstanding chapter 216, the department may use the reserve funds to pay public assistance fraud rewards and to fund one or more of the specific projects proposed in the report submitted pursuant to paragraph (d). Section 3. Paragraph (d) of subsection (11) of section 943.045, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 943.045 Definitions; ss. 943.045-943.08.-The following words and phrases as used in ss. 943.045-943.08 shall have the following meanings: (11) "Criminal justice agency" means: (d) The protective and fraud investigations components component of the Department of Children and Families, which investigates the crimes of abuse and neglect and public assistance fraud.Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.