Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
A National Network Of Seniors Help Identify And Combat Medicare Fraud
Chicago Tribune: Medicare Fraud Watch: Learn To Protect Against, Detect, Report
Retiree Bob Lapp spent his career working in the healthcare industry, first as a hospital administrator and later as a consultant. The Medicare fraud he saw left him incensed. “What really got me is so much money is wasted on fraud,” he says. “Billions of dollars are wasted on healthcare fraud every year, and that’s money that could do much more good going to the right people.” For the past five years, Lapp, 72, has been a volunteer with the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) at Age Options in Oak Park. Lapp travels to meet with seniors groups in the region he covers, north suburban Cook County. (5/15)
Meanwhile, a father and son face insider information trading charges related to five health care companies, and an ex-fugitive doctor gets prison for Medicare fraud charges -
The Associated Press: Father And Son Charged In Insider Trading Case
An investment banker at a Manhattan firm and his father have been charged with using inside information to trade in securities of five health care companies. The charges were contained in a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal court against Sean Stewart and his father, Robert. Sean Stewart is a managing director at Perella Weinberg Partners LP. (5/14)
The Associated Press: Ex-Fugitive Doctor Gets Prison For Income Tax, Fraud Charges
A Western Pennsylvania doctor will spend a fraction of the time in prison that he spent in Central America trying to elude prosecution for health care fraud and income tax charges. Sixty-five-year-old Dr. William Acosta was sentenced to a year and a day in prison Thursday by a federal judge in Johnstown, where Acosta once practiced. (5/14)
