Federal agents charged 94 people in five cities Friday with defrauding Medicare, the Department of Justice and other federal agencies said in a joint statement.
It is the largest health care fraud takedown since the creation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force three years ago. The defendants include doctors, health care company owners and executives, the statement said.
"Today's arrests send a strong message that attempts to defraud Medicare will not be tolerated," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "With the help of new tools in the Affordable Care Act, including stiffer penalties and better information sharing, we will continue to work with our federal, state and local partners to stamp out Medicare fraud and protect beneficiaries and the American taxpayer."
The defendants are charged with conspiring to submit over $280 million in false claims to the federal health care program designed to aid the elderly.
Thirty-six defendants charged in the schemes have been arrested in Miami, Florida; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Detroit, Michigan, and the Brooklyn borough of New York, and additional arrests are expected throughout the day, federal officials said.
Charges include filing fraudulent claims for HIV/infusion services, home health care, physical therapy and durable medical equipment.
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force is a joint effort by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services. The team works with federal, state and local investigators to analyze Medicare data and emphasizes community policing.
"With today's arrests, we're putting would-be criminals on notice: Health care fraud is no longer a safe bet," Attorney General Eric Holder said. "The federal government is working aggressively - and collaboratively - to pursue health care criminals around the country and to bring these offenders to justice."
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People wonder where all the money goes well here you go. There is so much negativity towards our government, and its only because he's black, but much praise that he is busting the rich who is doing all the stealing in this country. The rich white have been stealing from this country since the Indians and exploiting other races throughout history. I am sad to say that I am white. Awfully sad to say.
It's not only the whites who commit these crimes, it's all races and nationalities - black or white or red or yellow, greed is color blind.
Now if we can just get the Health Insurance fraud under control, we could have affordable health care AND affordable insurance. Don't for a moment think that this type of fraud is restricted to just medicre and medicaid. No, it is rampant and flows through all insurance companies as well, driving up our insurance premiums. Take for instance even the seniors who get pain medication prescribed to them because their insurance company will pay for it, then they turn around and deal it to a young addict. Sad AND sick AND a total abuse of the system.
Will this reach all the way to Riverdale, Bronx, NY where a famously "Christian" rehab/nursing facility mistreated, then colluded and criminally dumped my mother because "her daughters were too much trouble"? Mom, it may have taken almost 6 years, but you will be vindicated...
Whoever commits crimes or corrupt the system must be brought to the justice. They can be anything; politicians, doctors, lawyers, CEO's,. I do not any banker in jail. What about BP's and their agent EPA?
De-bar the involved doctors, freeze their assets, deny claims for forever to the participant of the fraud, jail the rest for a minimum of 20 years. As for immigrants involved in fraud, deport them.
I think mandatory prison sentences and take their assets, just like the way they treat drug dealers, In stead these people will get to hire the best attorneys and get off on probation, and they will pay for it with the money that they stole from medicare.
You all think mandatory sentencing is great, until you find out 80% of them are caucasian.
I am both glad and angry at the same time. Glad that these criminals have been caught and will be prosecuted. Glad that the fraud that these criminals committed has been stopped. Mad that Medicare did not prevent these fake charges from being paid to the criminals to begin with and mad that there is a Russian/Armenian mafia crime ring doing this to our country's Medicare system. I hope Obama keeps on making these efforts an extremely high priority for the Justice and Medicare systems. Bush was President 8 years and did nothing about it. Now after 1.5 years, Obama's leadership has caught and prosecuted hundreds of criminals doing this to us.