As part of the Trump administration’s latest push to combat fraud, the Justice Department on Tuesday announced charges against 455 individuals accused of involvement in healthcare fraud and opioid-related abuse schemes.
According to the Justice Department’s announcement on Tuesday, the accused include 90 doctors and other healthcare workers and are linked to about $6.5 billion in fraudulent claims that involved false billing and caused serious harm to patients.
“This is just the beginning. Fraudsters can no longer rip off American taxpayers,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference Tuesday. “If you seek to harm or cheat Americans, we will find you, seize any assets and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Officials cited one case involving a defendant who allegedly approved a student’s cardiovascular test as normal without informing the family that his heart was enlarged. The 18-year-old college basketball player, Kaiden Francis, later died during a training session just weeks afterward.
This year’s National Health Care Fraud Takedown involved participation from a record 45 states and territories, according to remarks made at a press briefing by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has expanded its crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid fraud, with enforcement actions concentrated in a number of states, many governed by Democrats. Some of those state leaders have raised concerns, alleging that the efforts may be politically motivated.
Healthcare fraud has become a major priority for the administration, with Dr. Mehmet Oz taking a leading role at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Drawing on his experience in television, he has also been recording video reports from areas identified as possible centres of fraudulent activity.
Officials say the agency is increasingly focused on stopping improper payments before they are approved, rather than dealing with them after funds have already been disbursed.
“Healthcare fraud steals from taxpayers, exploits vulnerable patients and puts lives at risk,” Kennedy said in a statement.
The investigations also uncovered large-scale fraudulent billing involving wound care services, including one Arizona-based company that received about $2 billion in Medicare payments and another scheme in Texas valued at roughly $906 million.
In a separate case, a hospice owner in California is accused of paying a funeral home worker for details of recently deceased individuals, which were then allegedly used to falsely bill Medicare for short-term hospice care services.
The crackdown also led to charges against 295 defendants linked to more than $518 million in fraudulent Medicaid claims, marking the highest number of individuals charged and the largest reported losses to fraud in the history of the Justice Department.
In last year’s annual enforcement operation, the Justice Department brought charges against 324 individuals, alleging involvement in fraudulent schemes totaling more than $14.6 billion.
