COLUMBIA, S.C. (October 9, 2020)—In what is the third in a nationwide series of telemedicine fraud prosecutions, more than 40 people in South Carolina and Georgia are being charged. The charges add up to hundreds of millions in fraudulent billings.
The District of South Carolina and the Southern District of Georgia have been on the vanguard of combating health care fraud across the country and globe. Playing instrumental roles in three nationwide operations, Operation Brace Yourself, Double Helix, and now Rubber Stamp, the districts have obtained convictions of the owners of international telemarketing firms; owners of genetic testing centers; owners of pharmacies; owners of medical supply businesses; CEOs of marketing companies; compliance officers; doctors; and nurses. Working cooperatively with other federal districts and the Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force, cases have been brought in over 20 districts across the country, resulting in over 175 individuals being charged and or convicted, with over a billion dollars in restitution. Additionally, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services/Center for Program Integrity separately took the largest number of adverse administrative actions resulting from a single administrative health care fraud investigative initiative in history in revoking the Medicare billing privileges of over 250 additional medical professionals for their involvement in telemedicine schemes.
Source: Anti-Fraud Operations Total $1.4 Billion in Claims / HomeCare Magazine
And much of it never should have happened in the 1st place. It was preventable