NRS228.410. Jurisdiction of Attorney General in cases involving Medicaid fraud; establishment of Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; duties and powers; recovery of reasonable costs and expenses.

      1.  The Attorney General has primary jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute violations of NRS 422.540 to 422.570, inclusive, and any fraud in the administration of the Plan or in the provision of medical assistance pursuant to the Plan. The provisions of this section notwithstanding, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Division of Health Care Financing and Policy of the Department of Health and Human Services shall enforce the Plan and any regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

      2.  For this purpose, the Attorney General shall establish within his or her office the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The Unit must consist of a group of qualified persons, including, without limitation, an attorney, an auditor and an investigator who, to the extent practicable, have expertise in nursing, medicine and the administration of medical facilities.

      3.  The Attorney General, acting through the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit:

      (a) Is the single state agency responsible for the investigation and prosecution of violations of NRS 422.540 to 422.570, inclusive;

      (b) May conduct any investigation or prosecution authorized pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1396b(q);

      (c) Shall review reports of abuse or criminal neglect of patients in medical facilities which receive payments under the Plan and, when appropriate, investigate and prosecute the persons responsible;

      (d) May review and investigate reports of misappropriation of money from the personal resources of patients in medical facilities that receive payments under the Plan and, when appropriate, shall prosecute the persons responsible;

      (e) Shall cooperate with federal investigators and prosecutors in coordinating state and federal investigations and prosecutions involving fraud in the provision or administration of medical assistance pursuant to the Plan, and provide those federal officers with any information in his or her possession regarding such an investigation or prosecution; and

      (f) Shall protect the privacy of patients and establish procedures to prevent the misuse of information obtained in carrying out the provisions of this section and NRS 228.411.

      4.  When acting pursuant to this section or NRS 228.175, the Attorney General may commence an investigation and file a criminal action without leave of court, and has exclusive charge of the conduct of the prosecution.

      5.  The Attorney General may, by appropriate legal action, recover any reasonable costs or expenses incurred in conducting an investigation or prosecution pursuant to this section or NRS 228.411. The Attorney General may retain the costs and expenses recovered pursuant to this subsection up to an amount not exceeding, in the aggregate, three times the amount of any money paid by this State which matches federal grant money for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Costs and expenses recovered by the Attorney General in excess of the amount retained by the Attorney General must be deposited in the State General Fund for credit to the appropriate account for the Plan.

      6.  As used in this section:

      (a) “Medical facility” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 449.0151.

      (b) “Plan” means the State Plan for Medicaid established pursuant to NRS 422.271.

      (Added to NRS by 1991, 1053; A 1993, 2067, 2498; 1995, 702; 1997, 1253, 2604; 1999, 2235, 2242; 2003, 665; 2011, 533)