Federal Government Charges Hundreds with Medical Fraud

Medical fraud abuse is a growing concern across the country. Criminals, including some medical professionals, have detected opportunities to defraud the government with millions of dollars in Medicare billings for either unnecessary procedures or services that were never done. A recent announcement by the U.S. Justice Department highlights this problem and what the government is doing to combat this fraud.

The U.S. Justice Department has announced the charging of 301 defendants, 61 who are medical professionals, with numerous crimes which include conspiracy to commit health care fraud, violations of anti-kickback statues, money laundering, and identity theft. The amount charged defrauded in false billing is a staggering $900 million. This includes $38 million sent from Medicare and Medicaid to one clinic to carry out medically unnecessary treatments and $36 million billed to a Detroit clinic that was actually a front for a narcotics diversion scheme.

A large portion of the fraud also occurred with home healthcare agencies, which the government has identified as particularly vulnerable to fraud. A recent study released by the HHS inspector general stated that more than $10 billion was made in improper payments in home healthcare in the 2015 financial year.

Read more regarding this story:

Hundreds arrested for $900 million worth of health care fraud

This news is another example that spotlights the importance of conducting background checks on your employees, especially employees that work with vulnerable populations or have the opportunity to take advantage of a system to commit fraud.

IntelliCorp offers products that can help to prevent this type of fraud with our Medical Fraud and Abuse product and our Practitioner’s Databank.

Learn about all the products and services IntelliCorp offers.

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