From: gemini23x@gmail.com   
      
   Hundreds arrested for $900 million worth of health care fraud   
   By Joshua Berlinger, CNN   
      
   Updated 10:05 AM ET, Thu June 23, 2016   
      
      
      
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   medicare fraud takedown lynch sot_00002004.jpg   
   Strike Force nets largest take down of Medicare fraud   
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   MARION, IA - AUGUST 16:  Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie   
   Sanders (I-VT) greets supporters while he campaigns on August 16, 2015 in   
   Marion, Iowa. Sanders has a full day of campaigning scheduled in eastern Iowa   
   today.  (Photo by Win    
   McNamee/Getty Images)   
   Bernie Sanders releases Medicare plan details   
   medicare fraud takedown lynch sot_00002004.jpg   
   Strike Force nets largest take down of Medicare fraud   
   GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan addresses the Republican National   
   Convention on Wednesday, August 29, in Tampa, Florida.   
   Ryan: Obamacare a threat to Medicare   
      
   Gov. Kasich defends Medicaid expansion   
   Story highlights   
   301 individuals are charged with about $900 million worth of false billing   
   Cases involve Medicare and Medicaid fraud   
   (CNN)The Justice Department announced Wednesday it's charging hundreds of   
   individuals across the country with committing Medicare fraud worth hundreds   
   of millions of dollars.   
      
   It's the largest takedown in history -- both in terms of the number of people   
   charged and the loss amount, according to the Justice Department.   
      
   The majority of the cases being prosecuted involve separate fraudulent   
   billings to Medicare, Medicaid or both for treatments that were never provided.   
   In one case, a Detroit clinic that was actually a front for a narcotics   
   diversion scheme billed Medicare for more than $36 million, the Justice   
   Department said.   
   The takedown: By the numbers   
   $900 million in false billing   
      
   $38 million sent from Medicare and Medicaid to one clinic to carry out   
   medically unnecessary treatments   
      
   $36 million billed to Medicare by a Detroit clinic that was actually a front   
   for a narcotics diversion scheme   
      
   1,000 law enforcement personnel involved   
      
   301 defendants charged across the United States   
      
   61 of those charged are medical professionals   
      
   36 federal judicial districts involved   
      
   28 of those charged are doctors   
      
   Source: U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services   
      
   A doctor in Texas has been charged with participating in schemes to bill   
   Medicare for "medically unnecessary home health services that were often not   
   provided."   
   And in Florida, the owner of several infusion clinics is accused by the   
   federal government of defrauding medicare out of over $8 million for a scheme   
   involving the reimbursement for expensive intravenous drugs that were never   
   actually purchased and never    
   given to patients.   
   "Health care fraud is not an abstract violation or benign offense. It is a   
   serious crime," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. "They target real people   
   -- many of them in need of significant medical care. They promise effective   
   cures and therapies, but    
   they provide none. Above all, they abuse basic bonds of trust -- between   
   doctor and patient; between pharmacist and doctor; between taxpayer and   
   government -- and pervert them to their own ends."   
      
   The defendants are charged with a numerous crimes, including conspiracy to   
   commit health care fraud, violations of anti-kickback statutes, money   
   laundering and aggravated identity theft.   
   The numbers from the case are staggering.   
   The Justice Department says that 301 people across the country have been   
   charged with about $900 million in false billing -- both records for the   
   Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which carried out the "unprecedented nationwide   
   sweep."   
   "These criminals target the most vulnerable in our society by taking money   
   away from the care of the elderly, children and disabled," said FBI Associate   
   Deputy Director David Bowdich.   
   Defendants in Florida are charged with carrying out more than $200 million   
   worth of fraud, while individuals in California, Texas and Michigan are   
   charged with committing more than $100 million worth of fraud in each state.   
      
   The strike force, part of a joint initiative between the Departments of   
   Justice and Health and Human Service, was formed in 2007. To date it has   
   carried out takedowns resulting in more than 1,000 people being charged with   
   committing over $3.5 billion in    
   health care fraud.   
   Home health fraud   
   Much of the fraud involved home health care agencies -- and those types of   
   services have been identified as particularly vulnerable to fraud, according   
   to the HHS Department's inspector general.   
   Medicare home health benefit covers skilled nursing care, home-based   
   assistance and therapeutic services for qualifying individuals who are   
   home-bound.   
   In conjunction with the arrests, the HHS inspector general released a study   
   saying that more than $10 billion was made in improper payments in home health   
   care in the 2015 financial year.   
   "Home health has long been recognized as a program area vulnerable to fraud,   
   waste, and abuse," it said. "Home health fraud in Medicare continues to   
   warrant scrutiny and attention."   
   It also identified 27 so-called "hotspots" in 12 places where it believes home   
   health care fraud is committed more often.   
      
   Part D fraud   
   Lynch said one of the new trends law enforcement noticed was fraud involving   
   the Medicare Part D, the prescription drug program.   
   "We saw new evidence of identity theft, including the use of stolen doctors'   
   IDs to prepare fake prescriptions," she said.   
   More than 60 of those who were arrested were charged with fraud related to   
   Part D, according to the Justice Department.   
   The HHS inspector general's office said that one in three Part D beneficiaries   
   received commonly abused opioids last year, a trend it called concerning.   
      
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