A total of 111 individuals made up of doctors, nurses and health care company owners and executives were arrested and charged Feb 17 for Medicare fraud schemes that involved more than $225 million in fake billing.
The 111, who are from nine cities, were arrested and charged by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced.
Holder said the arrests were the largest federal health care fraud takedown in the country’s history. He said more individuals may be added to the list.
Of those arrested, 32 were from Miami, 31 from Detroit, 11 from Chicago, 10 from Brooklyn, nine from Houston, seven from Dallas, six from Baton Rouge and five from Los Angeles.
According to Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, the medical personnel charged for procedures that were not performed and for unnecessary equipment.
Because of the stepped up federal drive to halt Medicare fraud, Washington recovered in 2010 $4 billion from medical fraudsters. During the last two years, for every dollar that the federal government spent to stop healthcare fraud, Washington recovered $6.80.
Washington is plugging holes in the program because more than $6 trillion is expected to be allocated to Medicare in the next 10 years, which will likely attract fraudsters and organized crime groups.
Because of the prevalence of fraudulent billing practices done in cooperation with medical practitioners, the strike force added two cities to its operations – Dallas and Chicago, AHN reports.
