Alleged Medicare fraud brings 107 arrests

If there was ever any doubt that Medicare fraud is rampant, federal officials recently arrested 107 people including doctors, nurses and social workers from across the country and charged them with submitting phony claims totaling $452 million. The raid was the largest-ever for a federal strike force combating rising fraud in the medical industry. Arrests were made in several major cities, including Miami, Houston, Chicago and Detroit. The Health and Human Services Department suspended or took other administrative actions against 52 medical providers. In recent years, federal authorities – often on information provided by whistleblowers – have stepped up attacks on Medicare fraud, which costs the government an estimated $60 billion to $90 billion annually. Get more information about Medicare whistleblowers.