Largest Fraud Takedown Announced by AG Sessions

On Thursday, July 13, 2017, United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, M.D., announced the largest ever health care fraud enforcement action by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. The action charged 412 defendants across forty-one federal districts for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving $1.3 billion in false billings. The 412 defendants include 115 doctors, nurses, and other licensed professionals. Of the 412 defendants, over 120 of them were charged for their roles in prescribing and distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics. HHS also has initiated suspension actions against 295 providers, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. The charges target schemes that bill government health insurance programs (Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE) for medically unnecessary prescription drugs and compounded medications that often were never even purchased and/or distributed to beneficiaries. The charges also involve individuals contributing to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on medical professionals involved in the unlawful distribution of opioids and other prescription narcotics, a particular focus for the Department. According to court documents, the defendants allegedly participated in schemes to submit claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE for treatments that were medically unnecessary and often never provided. In many cases, patient recruiters, benefi...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs