According to the article “Largest Ever Medicare Fraud Scheme By Single Criminal Enterprise Busted” by Christian Nordqvist on MedicalNewsToday.com, a nation wide scheme has conned the system out of $160 million.  Over 52 arrests have already occurred with possibly more to come.

Security forces claim that this crime is the largest Medicare fraud scheme ever carried out by a single criminal enterprise.  The organized crime group stole doctors’ and beneficiaries’ information to set up false procedures to bill Medicare.  Arrests were made in numerous states including New York, California, Georgia, New Mexico and Ohio.

This elaborate crime operation started back in 2006 and 118 fake clinics have been set up over this time.  The clinics were merely post office boxes.  Some of the list of charges these alleged criminals will face are bank fraud, health care fraud, identity theft and money laundering.  Most of the false claims followed medically sound procedures, but a few bizarre ones is what caused suspicions among Medicare staff.  It’s this type of fraud which can ultimately drive up Medicare supplement costs for consumers.