ImWithStupid Posted July 18, 2010 Posted July 18, 2010 Dozens charged in crackdown on Medicare fraud Jerry Markon, Washington Post washington post July 17, 2010 04:00 AM (07-17) 04:00 PDT Washington - -- The Justice Department stepped up its crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid cheats on Friday, announcing charges against 94 people in what authorities called the largest health care fraud sting in U.S. history. Federal agents fanned out across five states to arrest defendants accused of bilking the Medicare system out of more than $251 million through false claims for services that were medically unnecessary or never provided. Among those charged, officials said, are doctors and health care company owners and executives. Thirty-six of the defendants had been arrested as of Friday afternoon. In one alleged $70 million scheme operated out of a New York City clinic, more than 1,000 cash kickbacks were paid to Medicare beneficiaries out of a designated "kickback room," Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for Justice's criminal division, said at a news conference. An undercover investigation showed that beneficiaries lined up to receive illegal payments near a sign showing a woman with her finger to her lips warning in Russian, "Don't Gossip," Breuer said. The arrests came as Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius held the first in a series of regional summits on health care fraud prevention in Miami. The high-level attention marked the latest step in a crackdown on fraud that the Obama administration has said is a key part of its agenda on health care reform. Read more: http://www.sfgate.co...L#ixzz0tzKttt1B Quote
ImWithStupid Posted August 22, 2010 Author Posted August 22, 2010 Keep up the good work... 2 Hialeah businessmen busted for bilking Medicare for penis pumps BY JAY WEAVER jweaver@MiamiHerald.com It's one thing that a pair of Hialeah companies were fraudulently billing Medicare for penis pumps at $395 a pop to supposedly help male patients combat impotence. It's quite another that Charlie RX and Happy Trips also billed the federal healthcare program for vacuum erection systems to aid female patients battle erectile dysfunction, authorities say. And what's even more remarkable: Medicare paid the two medical equipment providers $28,600 after they submitted a total of $63,000 in false claims for the erection pumps, according to charges unsealed Monday in federal court in Miami. The criminal case highlights, yet again, Medicare's chronic problem of paying bills quickly without first verifying them -- a glaring flaw that has undermined the taxpayer-funded system during the past decade. Emilio Felipe Lopez, 47, president of Charlie RX, and Orlando Hernandez Estevez, 25, president of Happy Trips, were indicted on charges of healthcare fraud in February. Last week, FBI agents arrested the two Hialeah businessmen, who authorities say were in hiding. They have their first appearances in Miami federal court Monday afternoon. Both defendants are accused of stealing Medicare patients' numbers and doctors' identifications to submit nearly $2 million in bogus bills to the healthcare program for the elderly and disabled between October and February. Lopez's company, Charlie RX, billed Medicare a total of $689,853 in phony claims for medical equipment, including $41,000 for penis pumps for both male and female patients, according to authorities. Medicare reimbursed his business $370,853, including $24,000 for the pumps. Hernandez's company, Happy Trips, submitted $1,188,956 in false claims for inhalation drugs and other medical services, including $22,000 for the erection systems, officials say. Medicare paid his business $364,120, including $4,600 for those systems. Earlier this year, Medicare shut down payments to both companies after FBI agents discovered a spike in billing activity and reported it to the agency's anti-fraud contractor, Safeguard Services. Read more: http://www.miamihera...l#ixzz0xL9mePG4 Quote
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