Dozens Accused Of $251 Million Medicare Fraud

Federal authorities charged 94 people on Friday in the largest Medicare fraud takedown in history — as the authorities detailed various scams that they said bilked the federal health program out of $251 million.

Those arrested included several doctors and nurses, and dozens of others, in five cities — Miami, New York City, Detroit, Houston and Baton Rouge, La.

The defendants are accused of billing Medicare for unnecessary equipment, physical therapy and treatments that patients either didn’t need or never received, according to a Miami Herald report.

In one alleged $70 million scheme operated out of a New York City clinic, more than 1,000 cash kickbacks were paid to Medicare beneficiaries out of a designated "kickback room."

"These criminals have siphoned resources from the most vulnerable among us,'' U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said at a Friday news conference.  "Their actions have also helped to drive up healthcare costs nationwide."

'With today's arrests, we're putting would-be criminals on notice: Healthcare fraud is no longer a safe bet."

Medicare fraud investigators have especially begun to focus on certain areas of the country, including Florida, the Herald’s report said. Authorities believe that the astonishingly high amount of Medicare claims in Florida suggest rampant fraud.

The Herald report said Florida mental health clinics submitted $421 million in bills to Medicare last year — about four times more than Texas and a 635 times higher than Michigan, both also hotbeds of healthcare rackets, according to government records.

According to the Herald, records show that Florida facilities billed $310 million for physical and speech therapy — 140 times more than New York and 10 times higher than California.