Justice Dept. Charges 91 Doctors, Nurses, and Medical Professionals In $430M Medicare Fraud - The Largest Bust Of Its Kind 

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Called the largest Medicare fraud takedown in history of program Medicare Fraud Strike Force targets seven cities: Brooklyn, Baton Rouge, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami In Miami, 33 suspects were charged with more than $200m In many cases, medical professionals offered kickbacks to patients, and would bill said kickbacks to Medicare Many arrested after 24-hour indictments Ninety-one people including doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals have been charged with committing $430million in Medicare fraud in seven U.S. cities, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Thursday.An investigation coordinated by the U.S. Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services uprooted false billing schemes involving $230million in home health services, over $100million in mental health services, and $49million from ambulance transportation.Charges range from healthcare fraud and conspiracy to wire fraud, kickback violations, identity theft and money laundering. The number and cost of the fraud makes it the largest bust of its kind, Mr. Holder said.  Mr. Holder said in a news conference today that the case reveals an alarming trend of criminal attempts to steal billions of taxpayer dollars for personal profit.'Today’s enforcement actions expose an alarming and unacceptable trend of individuals attempting to abuse federal health care programs to steal billions in taxpayer dollars for personal gain,' he said.Assistant Attorney Lanny A. Breuer agreed, adding: ‘Today’s coordinated actions represent one of the largest Medicare fraud takedowns in Department of Justice history.’He continued: ‘We have made it one of the Department’s primary goals to hold accountable those who abuse the Medicare program for personal profit. HOW OFTEN DOES MEDICARE FRAUD HAPPEN, AND AT WHAT COST?The frequency with which Medicare fraud happens – and its scope – is disturbing. The strike force team charged 107 doctors, nurses, and other licensed medical care professionals in May 2012 for schemes totaling more than $452million in false billing.There was another takedown by the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (H.E.A.T.) in 2011, involving 115 defendants in nine cities. They were charged with more than $240million in false billings, according to reports.The government has taken substantial efforts to prevent such fraud. For instance, the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act has required several new requirements –such as teaching senior citizens to identify and report fraud, as well as putting in place fraud detection systems.The FBI names Medicare fraud between three and 10 per cent of all health care billings, according to independent website The Medicare Newsgroup. It is estimated by the organization that fraud costs between 16 to $55 billion dollars, part of the $590 billion Medicare system. Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations targeted health care workers in seven cities – Brooklyn, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami.According to Mr. Holder, one doctor alone was writing 33,000 prescriptions for some 2,000 patients between 2006 and 2011. Dr Joseph Megwa, who practices in Dallas, signed off these documents without reviewing them, causing $103.3million in false billings.According to the Dallas Morning News, the 58-year-old’s defrauding was the costliest. The doctor, who works at Raphem Medical Practice in Arlington, was indicted on conspiracy and health-fraud.The Justice Department alleges that he helped patients in their homes while he was instead traveling abroad.Two nurses, Ferguson Ikhile, and Ebolose Eghobor, were indicted along with the doctor. The three remain in federal custody.Similarly, dermatologist Dr Robert Kolbusz of Chicago was charged with falsely diagnosing his patients and billing Medicare for treatments that were not given, the Chicago Tribune reported.Seven individuals in Houston were charged for giving kickbacks of cigarettes, coupons, and food to Medicare recipients who would in turn just watch TV or play games instead of receiving the services that were billed to Medicare.All of these dishonest acts led to $158million in fraudulent billing.The announcement marks the latest case in a concerted crackdown against Medicare fraud by an inter-agency Medicare fraud strike force.In Miami alone, 33 suspects were arrested and charged with fraud of more than $200million, according to NBC Miami, though little else is known about those charged in the city.Mr. Breuer said that owners and operators at one Miami psychiatric hospital gave cash kickbacks to owners of assisted living facilities in order to obtain more patients.They then billed the social insurance plan more than $67million, often for services that were never offered, or patients they never actually had.Mr. Breuer added that these 33 medical professionals then billed Medicare for the cash they used as kickbacks for their false patients.Mr. Holder condemned the fraud as one that ‘siphons precious taxpayer resources, drives up heath care costs, and jeopardizes the strength of the Medicare program.’He added: ‘They also victimize the most vulnerable members of society, including elderly, disabled, and impoverished Americans.’The strike force was created under the healthcare reform law as a means of curbing waste, fraud and abuse within the $590 billion Medicare program that provides healthcare benefits to nearly 50million elderly and disabled beneficiaries.In February of 2011, 111 medical practitioners were charged in a $225 million Medicare fraud, which was then the largest of its kind.