#AceNewsReport – WASHINGTON:June.18: Almost two and a half hundred people including doctors, nurses, pharmacy owners and patient recruiters are charged over $712 million Medicare fraud, allegedly the biggest criminal healthcare case in the country’s history.
“This is the largest takedown in the strike force’s eight year history,” Lynch said. “It is the largest criminal health takedown in the history of the Department of Justice and it adds to an already remarkable record of enforcement.”
The US Attorney’s Office said the 243 people charged are spread out in 17 federal districts across the United States.
Lynch noted 46 of the suspects are medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, but also home health care providers, pharmacy owners and patient recruiters.
She explained some of the suspects billed Medicare for equipment they did not provide to patients, for care that was not needed and for services that were not rendered.
In one instance, owners of mental health facilities in Miami, Florida received tens of millions in reimbursements for intensive psychotherapy sessions, while they only moved patients from one location to another, Lynch said.Lynch was joined at the press conference by Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Jim Comey, Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel Levinson, and other officials.
