This Sunday (October 25) 60 Minutes reported on the new face of Medicare fraud and how it can be surprisingly easy to execute. (Rent a location, find a frontman, buy lists or identities of Medicare patients often stolen from doctor's offices or hospitals, bribe a doctor and then bill since the government is required to pay within a certain period of time.) There are very few checks and balances in the system until the billing reaches certain critical levels. There are also few resources available at the provider enrollment level.
There was emphasis on the Miami area where it was reported that health care fraud is bigger than drugs. It's not just Miami, the show reported on Detroit and Los Angeles. There is an interview of one unsophisticated man "Tony" who described how he ran sham Durable Medical Equipment supply companies and billed Medicare for $20 million.
The entire 60 Minutes segment is available at CBS News website:
Any questions or comments should be directed to: tgreen@greenassoc.com. Tracy Green is a principal at Green & Associates in Los Angeles, California. They focus their practice on the representation of licensed professionals, individuals and businesses in civil, business, administrative and criminal proceedings. They have a specialty in representing licensed health care providers. Their website is: http://www.greenassoc.com/
