Briefs

By Troy Anderson Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to study the use of "data mining" technologies to target fraud in all public assistance programs.

The motion, sponsored by Supervisor Michael Antonovich, comes after a Los Angeles Daily News report found widespread fraud in federal, state and local government health and welfare programs by organized crime syndicates.

The move would enhance fraud detection and prevention training among all county employees who administer public assistance programs and use new computer technologies to analyze databases and flag potential fraud for further investigation.

Last fiscal year, the Attorney General Office's Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse used "data mining" techniques to recover a record $274 million in Medi-Cal funds - nearly as much as all the money recovered in the previous 15 years combined.

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