WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stepping up their game against health care fraud, the Obama administration and major insurers announced Thursday they will share raw data and investigative know-how on a scale not previously seen to try to shut off billions of dollars in questionable payments.

At a White House event with insurance executives, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the new public-private partnership will allow government programs and the insurance industry to take the high ground against scam artists constantly poking the system for weaknesses.

"Lots of the fraudsters have used our fragmented health care system to their advantage," Sebelius told reporters. "By sharing information across payers, we can bring this potentially fraudulent activity to light so it can be stopped." State investigators are also part of the effort.

Fraud is an endemic problem plaguing giant government programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and a headache also for private insurers. But many of the details of the new partnership have yet to be worked out. It doesn't even have a budget, officials said. However, the goal is to start producing results in six months to a year. Extensive sharing of claims data will take longer because difficult legal and technical issues have to be worked out.

The agreement is unusual because it brings together longtime foes to tackle a common problem. Insurers are grudgingly carrying out the many requirements of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law, even as they continue lobbying to roll back some of its provisions, such as new taxes on the industry and cuts to private plans offered through Medicare. Obama continues to rail against industry "abuses."

Industry leaders stressed that combating fraud is in everyone's interests.

"What's in it for us is that if you have more data, you are going to be able to recognize aberrant patterns more reliably," said Dr. Richard Migliori, an executive vice president of UnitedHealth Group, the nation's largest insurer. "These perpetrators are moving around from one place to another. You are going to have more eyes on them and they are going to feel surrounded.

Attorney General Eric Holder, who took part in the announcement, said insurers and government will "come together as never before to share information while protecting patient confidentiality."

Fraud is estimated to cost Medicare about $60 billion a year, and the Obama administration has beefed up the government's efforts to stop it, bringing in record settlements with drug companies for marketing violations as well as using new powers in the health care law to pursue low-level fraudsters with greater zeal.

Yet, although Medicare is becoming a harder target, it's too early to say if the tide has turned.

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Gov't stepping up fight against health care fraud