WASHINGTON — Hundreds of people nationwide, including dozens of doctors, have been charged in health care fraud prosecutions, accused of collectively defrauding the government of $1.3 billion, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

Nearly one-third of the 412 charged were accused of opioid-related crimes. The health care providers, about 50 of them doctors, billed Medicare and Medicaid for drugs that were never purchased; collected money for false rehabilitation treatments and tests; and gave out prescriptions for cash, according to prosecutors.

Some of the doctors wrote more prescriptions for controlled substances in a single month than entire hospitals wrote in that time, the acting director of the F.B.I., Andrew G. McCabe, said at a news conference in Washington of federal law enforcement and health care officials who announced the prosecutions.

“This event again highlights the enormity of the fraud challenge we face,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. </s> More than 400 people, including doctors, pharmacists and nurses, were charged in connection with a massive health care fraud scheme that bilked the federal government of more than $1 billion, officials from the Justice Department and Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday.

About a quarter of those were charged with fraud specifically related to opioids.

Describing some of the cases brought, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said trusted medical professionals “have chosen to violate their oaths and put greed ahead of their patients.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said the health care fraud bust targeted those who “maliciously contributed” to the nation’s opioid epidemic.

In all, 412 people, including 56 doctors, were charged as a result of the nationwide operation. The Justice Department said those accused have defrauded taxpayers of approximately $1.3 billion.

“Some doctors wrote out more prescriptions for controlled substances than entire hospitals were writing,” said FBI acting Director Andrew McCabe.

According to federal prosecutors, the individuals charged were involved in schemes in which they submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid for treatments that were either medically unnecessary or never provided. Patient recruiters were used in some cases and paid cash kickbacks for collection beneficiary information for providers that would be used to submit fraudulent bills to the government.

“One fake rehab facility for drug addicts in Palm Beach is alleged to have recruited addicts with gift cards, visits to strip clubs, and even drugs-enabling the company to bill for over $58 million in false treatments and tests,” Mr. Sessions said. </s> US announced charges against more than 400 people over health care scams worth $1.3 billion. </s> April 9 (Reuters) – U.S. authorities on Tuesday said 24 defendants have been charged in connection with one of the largest health care fraud schemes prosecuted by the federal government, involving telemedicine companies and resulting in more than $1.2 billion of losses.

Authorities said the charges concern an alleged scheme by so-called durable medical equipment companies to pay kickbacks and bribes in exchange for referrals of Medicare beneficiaries for medically unnecessary back, knee, shoulder and wrist braces.

The U.S. Department of Justice said hundreds of thousands of elderly or disabled patients were lured into the scheme to defraud Medicare.

Among the defendants were chief executives and other top officials associated with five telemedicine companies, and the owners of dozens of durable medical equipment companies. </s> WASHINGTON — United States prosecutors have charged more than 400 people with taking part in health care fraud and opioid scams that totaled $1.3 billion in false billing.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the charges Thursday. Officials say those charged include more than 120 people involved in prescribing and distributing narcotics. In prepared remarks, Sessions calls it the "largest health care fraud takedown operation in American history."

Among those charged are six Michigan doctors accused of a scheme to prescribe unnecessary opioids. A Florida rehab facility is alleged to have recruited addicts with gift cards and visits to strip clubs, leading to $58 million in false treatments and tests.

Sessions says nearly 300 health care providers are being suspended or banned from participating in federal health care programs. </s> WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday announced what officials are calling the largest health care fraud enforcement action in Justice Department history.

Sessions said 412 people nationwide stand charged in health care fraud schemes resulting in $1.3 billion in false billings.

Those charged include 115 doctors and other health care providers. The opioid epidemic was a major focus of the arrests and charges.

Many defendants were charged in connection with prescribing and distributing dangerous narcotics.

"Among those defendants announced today, 120 have been charged with opioid-related crimes, making this also the largest opioid-related fraud takedown in American history," Sessions said.

Sessions cited the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for reporting that the opioid epidemic kills more than 90 people every day.

Sessions said close to 300 health care providers have been suspended or banned from participating in federal health care programs. </s> More than 80 people in Florida were charged in a nationwide crackdown on health care fraud and opioid scams that totaled $1.3 billion in falls billings, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The action, which involved law enforcement agencies throughout the country and resulted in 400 arrests, was called the "largest health care fraud takedown operation in American history" by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions said it indicates that some doctors, nurses and pharmacists "have chosen to violate their oaths and put greed ahead of their patients."

In the Southern District of Florida, 77 defendants were charged in fraud schemes that totaled $141 million in false billings for home health care services, mental health services and pharmacy fraud.

One case involved the owner of an addiction treatment center and home for recovering addicts. The owner and another individual were charged with submitting more than $58 million in fake insurance claims for treatment.

According to the Department of Justice, the suspects recruited people where were addicted to drugs to move to South Florida. They would then bill insurance companies for fraudulent treatments. In exchange, the suspects would give the addicts gift cards, free airline travel, trips to casinos and strip clubs and drugs, the justice department said.

Ten people were charged in the Middle District of Florida with schemes that involved nearly $14 million in false charges, according to the Department of Justice.

One of those defendants misrepresented himself as a retired Lieutenant Commander of the U.S. Navy to gain the trust from TRICARE beneficiaries in order to steal their personal identities, the justice department said. Many TRICARE beneficiaries are members and veterans of the armed forces. The suspect and two others were charged with trying to defraud the TRICARE program of $4 million.

Of those charged nationally, more than 120 people were involved in illegally prescribing and distributing narcotic painkillers. Such prescription opioids are behind the deadliest drug overdose epidemic in U.S. history. More than 52,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2015 — a record — and experts believe the numbers have continued to rise.

"In some cases, we had addicts packed into standing-room-only waiting rooms waiting for these prescriptions," acting FBI director Andrew McCabe said. "They are a death sentence, plain and simple."

Nearly 300 health care providers are being suspended or banned from participating in federal health care programs, Sessions said.

"They seem oblivious to the disastrous consequences of their greed. Their actions not only enrich themselves, often at the expense of taxpayers, but also feed addictions and cause addictions to start," Sessions said.

Health care fraud sweeps happen each year across the country, but law enforcement officials continue to grapple over the best way to fight the problem.

The people charged were illegally billing Medicare, Medicaid and the health insurance program that serves members of the armed forces, retired service members and their families, the Justice Department said. The allegations include claims that those charged billed the programs for unnecessary drugs that were never purchased or given to the patients. </s> U.S. federal agents have smashed a worldwide medical care scheme that defrauded U.S. taxpayers of more than $1 billion.

The Justice Department said Tuesday 24 people have been charged, including doctors, telemarketers and the heads of companies that provide back, wrist and knee braces.

"This Department of Justice will not tolerate medical professionals and executives who look to line their pockets by cheating our health care programs," U.S. Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said Tuesday.

The extensive and complex scheme stretched from the U.S. to call centers in the Philippines and across Latin America.

Telemarketers would phone patients offering them free medical braces. When call centers verified that the patients were covered by Medicare, they were transferred to telemedicine companies, where doctors -- who never examined the patients -- would prescribe the braces even if there was no medical reason to have one.

The medical equipment companies would bill the government and kickback a portion of the funds to the others in the scam.

The fraud was detected last year when a number of Medicare beneficiaries smelled what sounded like a scam and called a government hotline.

The FBI, Health and Human Services, and Internal Revenue Service investigated.

"The breadth of this nationwide conspiracy should be frightening to all who rely on some form of health care,” IRS investigations chief Don Fort said. "The conspiracy ... details broad corruption, massive amounts of greed and systemic flaws in our health care system that were exploited by the defendants." </s> Hundreds of thousands patients were lured into worldwide criminal healthcare fraud schemes involving telemedicine and durable medical equipment (DME) executives, according to the FBI and Department of Justice.

The illegal kickback scheme allegedly involved companies that received money in exchange for referral of Medicare beneficiaries by medical professionals for back, shoulder, wrist and knee braces that are medically unnecessary.

The 24 defendants, among them CEOs associated with five telemedicine companies, the owners of dozens of DME companies and three licensed medical professionals, allegedly participated in healthcare fraud schemes involving more than $1.2 billion in losses.

The criminal scheme, which crossed borders, involving call centers in the Philippines and throughout Latin America, comprised an international telemarketing network that tricked hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled patients.

According to allegations in court documents, some of the defendants obtained patients for the scheme by using an international call center that “up-sold” the beneficiaries to get them to accept numerous “free or low-cost” DME braces, regardless of medical necessity.

The proceeds were allegedly laundered through international shell corporations and used to purchase exotic automobiles, yachts and luxury real estate in the United States and abroad.

Investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General and prosecuted by the DOJ, the defendants are charged with running a complex, multilayered scheme to defraud the Medicare system and avoid detection by government regulators.

“Healthcare fraud causes billions of dollars in losses, it deprives real patients of the critical health care services they need, and it can endanger the lives of real patients so individuals like those arrested today can profit from their criminal activity,” FBI Assistant Director Robert Johnson said in a statement.

The conspiracy described in the indictment details broad corruption, massive amounts of greed and systemic flaws in the nation’s healthcare system that were exploited by the defendants in multiple states, including South Carolina, Florida and Mississippi.

“This Department of Justice will not tolerate medical professionals and executives who look to line their pockets by cheating our health care programs,” Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said in a statement.

WHAT ELSE TO KNOW

The Centers for Medicare Services, Center for Program Integrity (CMS/CPI) also announced that it took adverse administrative action against 130 DME companies that had submitted over $1.7 billion in claims and were paid over $900 million.

“The defendants took advantage of unwitting patients who were simply trying to get relief from their health concerns,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in a statement. “Instead, the defendants preyed upon their weakened state and pushed millions of dollars’ worth of unnecessary medical devices, which Medicare paid for, and then set up an elaborate system for laundering their ill-gotten proceeds.”

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 14 strike forces operating in 23 districts, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion.

Nathan Eddy is a healthcare and technology freelancer based in Berlin.
The U.S. Department of Justice charges 412 individuals with health care fraud. Collectively, these individuals are accused of collectively defrauding $1.3 billion from the U.S. government.