The Department of Justice announced on Thursday a large healthcare fraud takedown in California, resulting in alleged losses of $2 billion.
Fifteen people have been charged in schemes that resulted in fraudulent claims submitted to the government and private healthcare programs, including six medical professionals, according to the Justice Department.
The providers included Dr. Harold Tabaie of Anaheim, a cardiothoracic surgeon accused of billing Medicare $135 million for medically unnecessary arterial procedures with his business partner, chiropractor Hany Malek. Dr. Richard Keech of Torrance, California was also charged in connection with a $10 million plot involving false and fraudulent claims for unnecessary hospice services.
Healthcare fraud takedowns are coordinated national and regional enforcement efforts that often involve the Justice Department, HHS' Office of the Inspector General and the FBI. They are among the most aggressive federal enforcement actions the government takes against months- or years-long cases of healthcare fraud, waste and abuse.
Hospice has been a hotbed of fraudulent activity in healthcare, with many ploys targeting vulnerable, older populations. The takedown in California alone included more than $138 million in bogus bills to Medicare across three separate hospice schemes in which many patients were reportedly not terminally ill.
However, the Justice Department called out the latest fraud sweep for stopping the largest substance abuse...
The Department of Justice announced on Thursday a large healthcare fraud takedown in California, resulting in alleged losses of $2 billion. Fifteen people have been charged in schemes that resulte...