DOJ tallies $57M in Medicare fraud busts in two weeks

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is closing out 2017 with a bang, and for those involved in Medicare fraud, it will be the bang of a slamming prison door.

The DOJ, Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams and state districts were busy during the last month of 2017, racking up more than $57 million in Medicare fraud busts across the country in just the first two weeks of December.

In addition to the common charges of fraudulent Medicare billing for services not rendered or rendered at a lesser care level, the month’s charges also included physician kickback schemes and tax evasion.

Of rising concern, four separate cases in December involved opioids: Two separate Alabama cases are accused of running opioid “pill mills,” while a Nevada cardiologist was arrested for unlawful distribution of opioids and a Pennsylvania physician was indicted for opioid diversion.

While many Medicare fraud busts in the past have tended to involve therapy providers and durable medical equipment vendors, December’s group included a Virginia sleep study clinic, a Minnesota dermatologist, two Florida podiatrists, a Texas mobile imaging company and a West Virginia dentist.

Read all the 2017 Medicare fraud busts on the DOJ’s Civil and Criminal Enforcement web page.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.