The Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services have announced the expansion of Strike Force operations to Brooklyn, N.Y., Tampa, Fla., and Baton Rouge, La., in the fifth, sixth and seventh phases of a targeted criminal, civil and administrative effort against individuals and healthcare companies that fraudulently bill the Medicare program, according to an HHS news release.
The joint DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force is a multi-agency team of federal, state and local investigators designed to combat Medicare fraud through the use of Medicare data analysis techniques and an increased focus on community policing. Strike Force teams are operating in seven cities in the United States: Miami, Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston, Brooklyn, Tampa and Baton Rouge.
"When President Obama took office, he promised a new commitment to cracking down on the criminals who steal billions of dollars from Medicare each year through fraudulent claims," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in the release. "Today, HHS and DOJ are following through on that commitment with the announcement of three new Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams in Baton Rouge, Tampa and in Brooklyn. Along with teams already operating in Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and Detroit, these Strike Force operations will allow us to concentrate our agents and resources on the criminal hubs where we know a significant share of fraud occurs. Medicare is a sacred promise to America's seniors and we will do everything we can to protect it. The announcement we're making today is a significant step towards securing Medicare for seniors today and generations to come."
The Strike Force operations in Brooklyn, Tampa and Baton Rouge are another important step of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team, a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the DOJ and HHS to focus their joint efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid fraud through enhanced cooperation. The HEAT taskforce is made up of top-level law enforcement agents, prosecutors and staff from both Departments and their operating divisions.
Additionally, five indictments were unsealed today in Miami, Detroit and Brooklyn, following the arrests of 25 individuals in Miami, four individuals in Detroit and one in Brooklyn. The individuals charged in the indictments are accused of various Medicare fraud crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, conspiracy to launder money, money laundering, criminal false claims, making false statements and receiving kickbacks.
According to charging documents, the defendants participated in schemes to submit claims to Medicare for products and services that were in fact medically unnecessary and oftentimes, never provided. In the Detroit cases, defendants are alleged to have participated in a scheme whereby they paid kickbacks to patients who received instructions from the clinic owners and patient recruiters to feign symptoms to justify expensive testing, including nerve conduction studies. In Brooklyn, the two defendants are alleged to have billed Medicare for durable medical equipment, including expensive shoe inserts reserved for diabetes patients, when in fact much cheaper and over-the-counter shoe inserts were provided to beneficiaries who often did not need them. In Miami, 15 individuals, including doctors and nurses, are charged in connection with fraudulent claims to Medicare for home health services. In another case in Miami, individuals are charged for their various roles in running a medical clinic that purported to provide injection and infusion treatments to HIV/AIDS patients and submitted fraudulent claims Medicare for such services, which were often medically unnecessary and/or never provided.
Collectively, the physicians, business owners, executives and others charged in the indictments are accused of conspiring to submit approximately $61 million in false claims to the Medicare program.
Since the inception of Strike Force operations in March 2007 -- Miami (Phase One), Los Angeles (Phase Two), Detroit (Phase Three), Houston (Phase Four), and Brooklyn (Phase Five) -- the Strike Force has obtained indictments of more than 460 individuals and organizations that collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than one billion dollars.
Read the HHS release on the new Medicare Strike Force operations.
The joint DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force is a multi-agency team of federal, state and local investigators designed to combat Medicare fraud through the use of Medicare data analysis techniques and an increased focus on community policing. Strike Force teams are operating in seven cities in the United States: Miami, Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston, Brooklyn, Tampa and Baton Rouge.
"When President Obama took office, he promised a new commitment to cracking down on the criminals who steal billions of dollars from Medicare each year through fraudulent claims," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in the release. "Today, HHS and DOJ are following through on that commitment with the announcement of three new Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams in Baton Rouge, Tampa and in Brooklyn. Along with teams already operating in Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and Detroit, these Strike Force operations will allow us to concentrate our agents and resources on the criminal hubs where we know a significant share of fraud occurs. Medicare is a sacred promise to America's seniors and we will do everything we can to protect it. The announcement we're making today is a significant step towards securing Medicare for seniors today and generations to come."
The Strike Force operations in Brooklyn, Tampa and Baton Rouge are another important step of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team, a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the DOJ and HHS to focus their joint efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid fraud through enhanced cooperation. The HEAT taskforce is made up of top-level law enforcement agents, prosecutors and staff from both Departments and their operating divisions.
Additionally, five indictments were unsealed today in Miami, Detroit and Brooklyn, following the arrests of 25 individuals in Miami, four individuals in Detroit and one in Brooklyn. The individuals charged in the indictments are accused of various Medicare fraud crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, conspiracy to launder money, money laundering, criminal false claims, making false statements and receiving kickbacks.
According to charging documents, the defendants participated in schemes to submit claims to Medicare for products and services that were in fact medically unnecessary and oftentimes, never provided. In the Detroit cases, defendants are alleged to have participated in a scheme whereby they paid kickbacks to patients who received instructions from the clinic owners and patient recruiters to feign symptoms to justify expensive testing, including nerve conduction studies. In Brooklyn, the two defendants are alleged to have billed Medicare for durable medical equipment, including expensive shoe inserts reserved for diabetes patients, when in fact much cheaper and over-the-counter shoe inserts were provided to beneficiaries who often did not need them. In Miami, 15 individuals, including doctors and nurses, are charged in connection with fraudulent claims to Medicare for home health services. In another case in Miami, individuals are charged for their various roles in running a medical clinic that purported to provide injection and infusion treatments to HIV/AIDS patients and submitted fraudulent claims Medicare for such services, which were often medically unnecessary and/or never provided.
Collectively, the physicians, business owners, executives and others charged in the indictments are accused of conspiring to submit approximately $61 million in false claims to the Medicare program.
Since the inception of Strike Force operations in March 2007 -- Miami (Phase One), Los Angeles (Phase Two), Detroit (Phase Three), Houston (Phase Four), and Brooklyn (Phase Five) -- the Strike Force has obtained indictments of more than 460 individuals and organizations that collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than one billion dollars.
Read the HHS release on the new Medicare Strike Force operations.