Fraud claims prompt call for urgent co-location review
The Patients Together lobby group is demanding that the Government urgently review the co-location scheme, saying it has uncovered evidence of fraud.
The organisation says the parent company of one of the American organisations short-listed for five co-located contracts here paid the biggest fraud bill ever in US history.
It says its evidence is based on documents from the US Department of Justice.
Health analyst Marie O'Conner researched the fraud cases for Patients Together and says the Government must begin a total review of co-location in light of the revelations.
According to O’Connor, the rules and processes governing public procurement and “due diligence” now need to be put in the public domain.
"The Government now needs to clarify whether having a history of fraud in another country disqualifies a company from being awarded a State contract" she said.
"The evidence that we have suggests that healthcare companies who have paid multi-million dollar fraud bills in the US are involved in providing services to cancer patients on behalf of the State.’
"One company whose corporate parent paid $1.7bn (1.26bn) under the False Claims Act to the US Government has apparently been shortlisted for five co-location contracts.’
