The Medicare fraud strike force, with agents from Miami, Houston, Los Angeles and Detroit, arrested 20 individuals in California for their involvement in a 26 million dollar Medicare fraud scheme. The Medicare fraud strike force has led to the indictment of 331 individuals throughout the country since 2007. Clinic owners and patient recruiters were among those arrested. If someone is being investigated for or has been arrested for Medicare fraud, it is imperative to seek advice and counsel from a Miami Medicare fraud lawyer.
This most recent case of Medicare fraud involved billing for expensive medical equipment, such as power wheelchairs and hospital beds that were not needed and were never provided t0 patients. In fact, some of the equipment was ordered for people who were deceased. One of the defendants, Miguel Martinez, allegedly recruited relatives and friends to act as fictitious owners of four fraudulent clinics that would bill Medicare for the unneeded equipment. Gangs were also allegedly involved in the multi-million dollar scam.
Despite the existence of the Medicare fraud strike force, the federal government has dumped millions of dollars and added dozens of agents to curtail this nationwide problem. The Medicare fraud strike force was established in Miami in 2007, to combat the more than 3 billion dollar a year fraud committed in that city alone. Federal authorities have compiled statistics that revealed that Medicare fraud exceeds 60 billion dollars a year in the United States. Critics have suggested that Medicare fraud would be significantly curtailed if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid complied with the oversight policies established by both programs.
As cited in a previous article, federal authorities are seeing more violence linked to Medicare fraud. Although, Medicare fraud is considered a white collar crime, an increase in violent crimes is the direct result of those engaged the fraud to settle debts. Numerous murders have been linked to Medicare fraud deals gone bad. Fighting Medicare fraud has come to the forefront as the national healthcare debate continues. Only time will tell if the significant amount of resources used to fight Medicare fraud were well spent.
20 Charged in Medicare Fraud Bust in California, Associated Press, October 22, 2009.
