More than 100 people including doctors, nurses and other health care professionals have been charged in a series of Medicare fraud schemes that authorities say total more than $450 million. Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the arrests at a news conference in Washington.
Raids have been going on this morning in seven cities (Miami, Tampa, Chicago, Baton Rouge, Detroit, Houston and Los Angeles). It is the largest one-day takedown yet in a three-year federal crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid Fraud, which is estimated to cost taxpayers between $80 billion and $160 billion a year.
While the arrests involve what a source calls “every kind of scheme you can think of,” the largest case — in Baton Rouge — involved alleged false billing for mental health services. In that case, seven defendants are accused of a five-year scheme to recruit beneficiaries at two clinics, then submit bills for treatment they never received. The alleged false billing in Baton Rouge alone totals more than $225 million.
