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SIA: Biometrics can cut fraud in Medicare, Medicaid

SIA: Biometrics can cut fraud in Medicare, Medicaid

SILVER SPRING, Md.—Biometrics can reduce fraud in Medicare and Medicaid programs and provide assurance that patient information is protected, the Security Industry Association told the Senate Finance Committee on June 29.

SIA, responding to a open letter from the panel to combat the “multibillion-dollar problem of waste, fraud and abuse” in the federal health care programs, issued a white paper stating that the use of biometrics in identification and authentication would meet the goals established by the committee.

SIA said biometrics would help protect beneficiaries and ensure that patient information “is bound to the correct person.” Payment integrity would also improve by “ensuring that services claimed to have been delivered to beneficiaries actually have been delivered,” SIA stated.

The group also stressed the importance of privacy protection when employing biometrics, stating that beneficiaries must have control over how the data is used.

The Finance Committee plans to issue proposals later this year on improving the integrity of the health care programs, SIA said in a prepared statement.

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