Have We Traveled Too Far?: the Rise of the Travel Act in Health Care Corrupt Payment Cases
PANISCOTTI (DO NOT DELETE) 4/29/2021 4:39 PM HAVE WE TRAVELED TOO FAR?: THE RISE OF THE TRAVEL ACT IN HEALTH CARE CORRUPT PAYMENT CASES Maria Paniscotti* I. Introduction In 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) expressly denounced medical professionals and executives who solicit or receive corrupt payments.1 In the DOJ’s view, these white-collar health care crimes are not victimless; they are indeed just as nefarious as any other criminal action.2 In fact, the DOJ believes these crimes cost American health care programs billions of dollars and announced that it will not tolerate health care providers who look to personally benefit from cheating the United States’ people and health care programs.3 Given the gravity of this issue, subsequent health risks to Americans, and the financial cost to the American health care system, the United States government, federal agencies, and state governments have pursued corrupt payments, such as illegal kickbacks and bribes, as aggressively as they have pursued health care fraud and abuse.4 There is little chance that federal agencies, especially the DOJ, will cease their intense enforcement actions in the future.5 *J.D. Candidate, 2021, Seton Hall University School of Law; B.A., summa cum laude, 2018, Fordham University. I would first like to thank my faculty advisor, Professor Jacob Elberg, for his invaluable insight and assistance throughout the entire comment writing process. I would also like to express my gratitude to my parents, sister, and Andrew Stahl for their constant support, love, and guidance. 1 See generally Press Release, Dep’t.
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