Georgia governor OKs funds for anti-abortion centers

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has signed legislation that allows the state to provide funds to centers that offer medical and other services to pregnant women while discouraging them from getting abortions.

About 70 facilities in Georgia could qualify for the grant. About 40 of those centers are licensed to provide medical care, while the rest provide other services, including clothing and other supplies.

Georgia joins at least 10 other states that have dedicated funding to anti-abortion efforts, according to the pro-choice group, the Guttmacher Institute.

Grant opponents say the centers use deceptive advertising to draw pregnant women. They also argue that state anti-abortion funding could be used instead to finance sex education or counseling programs.

According to state records, about 27,500 abortions were performed in Georgia in 2013, the latest year for which date were available.

The budget proposal includes $2 million for the program. Deal is still reviewing it, and has until this week to decide on a final spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The U.S. Justice Department has filed charges against 25 Miami-area defendants in three cases for allegedly filing $26 million in false claims through the Medicare Part D program.

The Justice Department alleges that a group of defendants orchestrated a scheme to co-own pharmacies throughout Miami-Dade County. The businesses then submitted false claims for prescription drugs that were not medically necessary, nor provided to beneficiaries. Patients were referred to the pharmacies by recruiters who took kickbacks. Medicare paid out approximately $16.7 million as a result of the false claims, according to the Justice Department.

Federal officials noted that nearly 900 individuals in South Florida have been charged with involvement in more than $2.5 billion in fraudulent Medicare billings.

Part D prescription coverage is the fastest-growing area of the Medicare program. The DOJ reported that last year alone, more than $120 billion was spent on the Medicare Part D program, up from $78 billion in 2010. Based on U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates, as much as

$10 billion of last year’s $120 billion in Medicare Part D spending might be fraudulent.