Blatant Medicare fraud costs taxpayers billions

Carolyn Hileman* | December 14, 2007

By Mark Potter
Correspondent
NBC News

MIAMI, Florida - On an FBI undercover tape, the fraud was plain to see. A patient came to a South Florida AIDS clinic, signed some papers, walked into an office and was handed $150 in cash. She politely thanked the workers and left, her visit to the doctor finished without ever receiving any treatment. According to records seized by investigators, the office staff — assured of the patient’s cooperation — then used her name to fraudulently bill Medicare for a list of expensive treatment and medications. Law enforcement officials said it’s just one of the many widespread, organized and lucrative schemes to bilk Medicare out of an estimated 60-billion dollars a year — a staggering cost borne by American taxpayers… Most of these schemes, they said, are found in the cities of Miami and Hialeah, where they are often concentrated in parts of the Cuban immigrant community.

http://thevoice.name/

Contributor's website: http://www.thevoice.name

*Content posted by a user may not be completely written by that user. Content from another source is cited in either block quotes, with quotes or with a link to the original material. Content from other sites is posted for commentary and news purposes under fair use. Each user is responsible for their own postings and a particular posting should not be construed as being endorsed by this site or it's owner.