No letup in Medicaid fraud, says retiring enforcement chief

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008 | 3:13 p.m.

CARSON CITY – The head of the state unit that polices fraud in the $1 billion-a-year Medicaid program, says he doesn’t see any letup in attempts to bilk the system.

Timothy Terry, the chief of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit who is retiring after heading the office for 17 years, says there’s so much money in the Medicaid program that the unit will never be out of a job searching for fraud.

Terry, 55, a deputy attorney general, has led efforts that have recovered tens of millions of dollars for the state. He said his biggest case involved Merck, which was accused of underpaying the state in rebates for drug purchases. There was a nationwide recovery of $400 million against the company. Nevada, because of its small size, only received a “couple of million” dollars.

There are eight investigators and three lawyers in the fraud unit. Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto said Terry will be replaced on Nov. 26 by Mark Kemberling, who is deputy director of the unit. He has been with the unit since 1996.

Medicaid is the federal-state program that provides medical care for the poor and disabled.