S 10680

        STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
                                  10680
            IN SENATE
                             August 14, 2026
                               ___________
Introduced  by  Sen.  MURRAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to  the  handling  of
  tips  received  through the office of the Medicaid inspector general's
  Medicaid fraud hotline
  The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1  Section  1. Subdivisions 4, 5 and 7 of section 32 of the public health
2law, subdivisions 4 and 7 as added by chapter 442 of the  laws  of  2006
3and  subdivision  5 as amended by section 110 of part E of chapter 56 of
4the laws of 2013, are amended to read as follows:
5  4. to solicit, receive and investigate complaints related to fraud and
6abuse within the medical assistance program. The office's Medicaid fraud
7hotline shall be the official Medicaid fraud hotline of the state of New
8York. When a  tip  is  received  through  the  office's  Medicaid  fraud
9hotline,  the  inspector shall follow procedures of the office to deter-
10mine if such tip is a credible allegation and, if a tip is determined to
11be a credible allegation, all information  contained  in  such  credible
12allegation  shall  be shared with the Medicaid fraud control unit of the
13office of the attorney general and  with  any  prosecutor  of  competent
14jurisdiction;
15  5.  to  keep the governor, attorney general, state comptroller, tempo-
16rary president and minority leader of the senate, the  speaker  and  the
17minority  leader of the assembly, and the heads of agencies with respon-
18sibility for  the  administration  of  the  medical  assistance  program
19apprised of efforts to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute fraud
20and  abuse within the medical assistance program, and to provide a quar-
21terly briefing to the legislature on activities of the office.   At  the
22end of each calendar year, the inspector shall compile a report contain-
23ing  information  on  all  tips  that were received through the office's
24Medicaid fraud hotline. The purpose of such report shall be to determine
25how many tips were received through such hotline, how many tips received
26through such hotline were investigated, who conducted the  investigation
27on each tip that was investigated, and the outcomes of any such investi-
 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD16283-01-6
S. 10680  2
1gations.  Such  report  shall be provided to the governor, the temporary
2president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority lead-
3er of the senate, the minority leader of the assembly and  the  attorney
4general;
5  7.  to  make  information  and evidence relating to suspected criminal
6acts which [[he or she]] such inspector may obtain in carrying out [[his or]
7[her]] such inspector's duties available to  appropriate  law  enforcement
8officials  and  to consult with the deputy attorney general for Medicaid
9fraud control, the welfare inspector general, and other state and feder-
10al law enforcement officials for coordination of criminal investigations
11and prosecutions.
12  The inspector shall refer suspected fraud or criminality to the deputy
13attorney general for Medicaid fraud control and make any other referrals
14to such deputy attorney general as required or contemplated  by  federal
15law.  At  any  time after such referral, with ten days written notice to
16the deputy attorney general for Medicaid fraud control or  such  shorter
17time  as  such  deputy  attorney  general consents to, the inspector may
18additionally provide  relevant  information  about  suspected  fraud  or
19criminality  to  any  other federal or state law enforcement agency that
20the inspector deems appropriate under the circumstances.
21  Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision to the contra-
22ry, if the inspector determines through procedures of the office that  a
23tip  received  through the office's Medicaid fraud hotline is a credible
24allegation, all information contained in such credible allegation  shall
25be  shared  with  the  Medicaid  fraud control unit of the office of the
26attorney general and with  any  prosecutor  of  competent  jurisdiction.
27Within  thirty  days  of such information being shared with the Medicaid
28fraud control unit of the office of the attorney general and any  prose-
29cutor  of  competent  jurisdiction, there shall be a determination as to
30whether such credible allegation will be investigated and, if so,  which
31jurisdiction  will  lead such investigation. Such determination shall be
32shared with the inspector. Upon the  completion  of  such  investigation
33into  such  credible  allegation, the inspector shall be notified of the
34outcome of such investigation;
35  § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.