The Trump administration has charged 455 people, including 90 doctors and other healthcare professionals, with $6.5 billion in healthcare fraud. The defendants were involved in false claims that resulted in significant harm to patients, according to the Justice Department.
Details of the Charges
The charges include fraudulent wound care claims, which resulted in $2 billion in Medicare payments to one Arizona company and another $906 million scheme in Texas. In another case, one California hospice owner allegedly paid a funeral home employee for information about the recently deceased to fraudulently bill Medicare for a few days of hospice services.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the administration will continue to crack down on fraud, saying, “If you seek to harm or cheat Americans, we will find you, seize any assets and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Response from Health Secretary
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. noted that a record 45 states and territories participated in this year’s National Health Care Fraud Takedown. The Trump administration has been focused on healthcare fraud, with Dr. Mehmet Oz, who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, leading the effort to stop payments for fraudulent claims before they are made.
Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.
