The Justice Department Has Charged Almost 200 People in a Crackdown on $2.7 Billion Worth of Health Care Fraud Plots
WASHINGTON — As part of a national crackdown on healthcare fraud schemes with false claims worth more than $2.7 billion, the Justice Department said Thursday that nearly 200 people have been charged.
Attorney General Merrick Garland reported that doctors, nurse practitioners, and others from across the U.S. were being charged with several scams. These included a $900 million scheme in Arizona that targeted dying patients.
Garland told reporters, “It doesn’t matter if you are a drug trafficker in a drug cartel, a business executive, or a medical worker for a health care company.” “You will be held responsible if you make money by selling controlled substances without a license.”
Prosecutors in Arizona say that two wound care business owners took more than $330 million in kickbacks as part of a plan to falsely bill Medicare for amniotic wound grafts, which are dressings that help wounds heal.
The Justice Department said that nurse practitioners were forced to put the wound grafts on old patients who didn’t need them, such as those who were in hospice care. Court papers say that some patients died the day or within days of getting the grafts.
officials say that in less than two years, false claims worth more than $900 million were sent to Medicare for grafts that were only used on about 500 people.
Alexandra Gehrke and Jeffrey King, the owners of the wound care companies, were arrested this month at the Phoenix airport as they were getting on a trip to London. Court papers ask the judge to keep them in jail until their trial. A lawyer for Gehrke wouldn’t say anything and a lawyer for King didn’t answer an email from The Associated Press right away.
The police say that Gehrke and King, who got married this year, knew they were going to be charged and were getting ready to run away. Court papers say that they found a book at their home called “How To Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish Without a Trace.” Records show that they had a book called “Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive the System” in one of their bags before their trip.
Prosecutors say Gehrke and King lived very well off of the plan. They have luxury cars, a home worth almost $6 million, and more than $520,000 worth of gold bars, coins, and jewelry. Prosecutors say that after Gehrke was arrested, more than $52 million was taken from her personal and business bank accounts.
A nationwide healthcare fraud sweep charged 193 people, including 76 doctors, nurse practitioners, and other licensed medical professionals. The charges were brought in several different cases over about two weeks. The police took more than $230 million in cash, expensive cars, and other things. The Justice Department does these large-scale investigations into healthcare scams from time to time to help discourage other people from doing wrong.
In a different scheme aimed at Native Americans, fake sober living houses were set up that said they could help with addiction. Officials say that claims were then made for services that were never actually done.
In another case, there is talk of a plan in Florida to sell HIV drugs with fake names. Prosecutors say drugs were bought on the black market and then sold to pharmacies that didn’t know what was going on. The pharmacies then gave the drugs to patients.
Some patients were given bottles that didn’t have the drugs that were written on the labels. Prosecutors say that one patient lost consciousness for 24 hours after taking a drug that he was told was his HIV medicine but was an antipsychotic.
Source: AP