U.S. authorities charge 91 in $430 million Medicare fraud

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ninety-one people including doctors, nurses and other medical professionals were charged criminally in a new sweep of Medicare fraud involving seven U.S. cities and $430 million in alleged false billing, officials said on Thursday.

It was the government's second big raid in recent months after a similar effort in May alleged $452 million in fraud in Medicare, the U.S. health program for the elderly and disabled.

The allegations include billing the government for unnecessary ambulance rides in California, writing prescriptions for patients in Dallas who did not qualify for them and paying kickbacks such as food and cigarettes to patients in Houston if they attended programs a hospital could later bill for.

The investigation is part of an effort by President Barack Obama's administration to find healthcare savings, an issue that also flared during Wednesday's debate between Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.

Medicare, a $590 billion program that serves nearly 50 million people, is a primary pot of money for trying to find waste, fraud and abuse.

Indictments against the 91 defendants were unsealed on Thursday after a coordinated investigation led by the U.S. departments of Justice and of Health and Human Services, officials said. Most of the 91 surrendered or were arrested.

Those charged were relatively small-time operators who officials said tried to make a living defrauding Medicare and its sibling program, Medicaid, which insures the poor.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said at a news conference that the sweep should "send a clear message to those perpetrating or contemplating Medicare and Medicaid fraud: It's time to start looking for another line of work."

The examples of fraud "drive up healthcare costs and jeopardize the strength of the Medicare program," said Attorney General Eric Holder, head of the Justice Department.

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And yet, this is the system that Obama says he wants to save...

[Valin]

@WestVirginiaRebel

 

Nothing would surprise me less than to find some individuals of...Italian decent somewhere in this.