Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Feds Charge More Than 200 People In Nationwide Health Care Fraud Sweep
The Wall Street Journal: Feds Charge More Than 200 People With Medicare Fraud
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said the latest sweep in the government’s nationwide strike force against Medicare fraud has led to criminal charges against 243 people, including 46 doctors, nurses and other medical professionals. (Barrett, 6/18)
The Associated Press: Feds Announce Nationwide Health Care Fraud Sweeps
The dragnet spread from Miami to Los Angeles, and Dallas to Brooklyn, N.Y. Arrests were made earlier this week. Combining all the cases, allegedly fraudulent billings totaled some $712 million. (Alonso-Zalidvar, 6/18)
The Washington Post: Government Arrests 243 In Largest Crackdown On Health-Care Fraud
In Miami, the owners of a mental-health treatment center allegedly billed Medicare for tens of millions of dollars’ worth of intensive therapy that actually involved just moving people to different locations. Some of them had dementia so severe that they couldn’t even communicate. In Los Angeles, prosecutors say, one doctor collected $23 million for more than 1,000 power wheelchairs and other equipment his patients didn’t need — which he often didn’t even provide. (Bernstein and Horwitz, 6/18)
USA Today: Hundreds Charged With Medicare Fraud In Record Enforcement Sweep
A "strike force" including the Justice Department, FBI and Department of Health and Human Services and local officials brought cases in 17 districts, including the fraud hot spots of Miami and New York City. The cases include 46 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals such as physical and occupational therapists. The schemes involved more than $700 million in false billings. (O'Donnell, 6/18)
The Fiscal Times: Gotcha! Feds Bust 243 Fraudsters For Stealing $712 Million From Medicare
The charges range from conspiracy to commit health care fraud to money laundering and identity theft. The defendants seemed to target every vulnerable area of Medicare they could think of, including home health care, health care, psychotherapy, physical and occupational therapy, durable medical equipment (DME) and pharmacy fraud. (Leo, 6/18)
Reuters: Authorities Arrest 243 People In $712M Medicare Fraud
Since 2007, as part of increased efforts to tackle Medicare fraud, federal authorities have charged nearly 2,100 people with falsely billing the Medicare program more than $6.5 billion, according to the Justice Dept. Thursday's arrests bring that total to over 2,300 people who have billed over $7 billion. (Cassella, 6/18)
NBC News: Feds Charge 243 People For Medicare Fraud
The coordinated take-down is the largest such crackdown in the Medicare Fraud Strike Force's history, in the number of defendants charged and loss amount. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also suspended a number of providers as a result of the sweep. (Nasr, 6/18)
