The Governor of the State of Texas said he hopes Planned Parenthood files legal action against their move to cut off Medicaid funding to the abortion biz so he can put their officials under oath. Newly-elected Governor Greg Abbot told … Read More
The Obama administration has warned state officials that pushing Planned Parenthood out of the state’s Medicaid program could put Texas at odds with federal law. Officials with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services contacted the state Medicaid director on Tuesday … Read More
Texas health officials have asked an appeals court for permission to proceed with cutting payments to a therapy program for children with disabilities — the latest development in an ongoing lawsuit over the budget state lawmakers crafted this year. The … Read More
If Planned Parenthood has been billing Texas Medicaid for services it hasn’t been rendering, as Gov. Greg Abbott and state health officials suggested this week, it makes sense to cut off the money and go after the organization for whatever it stole. But … Read More
CARSON CITY — A dentist who overbilled Nevada’s Medicaid program by $285,000 has moved out of state and is under scrutiny by federal officials, the Legislative Commission was told Tuesday. Legislative auditors earlier this year found that the dentist, who … Read More
The top manager of the teacher’s pension fund received more than $2.2 million on top of his $504,000 a year salary. A lawyer making $153,000 a year at the General Land Office took home an extra $147,000. The Department of … Read More
Viju Mathew wanted to make sure that his wife could take care of their mentally disabled adult son and 4-year-old daughter, his lawyers say, so he agreed to plead guilty to federal health care fraud charges.But seven months later, his … Read More
A Santa Fe judge on Friday called a decision by Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration to withhold Medicaid funds from a behavioral health care agency “arbitrary, capricious or otherwise not in accordance with the law.” The decision by state First District … Read More
October 22, 2015 — The Indiana Attorney General’s Office has reached a settlement agreement on October 22 with Aspen Dental Management (ADMI), resolving allegations that the company used deceptive advertising and other unfair tactics to promote services at Aspen Dental-branded … Read More
The Obama administration just announced that fighting Medicaid fraud is going to be a “key priority” for the final year of the president’s term. That’s a tall order. Last year, the program lost more than $17 billion to fraud. That’s … Read More
As Congress stalls in its attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, a handful of states have succeeded in hitting the organization where it hurts. Texas announced Monday it will strip Planned Parenthood of its Medicaid funds after a 3-year video investigation captured … Read More
Advocates of Medicaid expansion in Texas often highlight our state’s record of the largest uninsured population in the nation, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report. Though the uninsured rate is falling, advocates say, it would fall even faster … Read More
In what may be the largest example of medicaid fraud in Nebraska’s history, investigators missed red flags that could’ve potentially saved millions. Now, the state wants to make sure it never happens again. Two weeks ago we told you about … Read More
EAST ST. LOUIS — A Brighton woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to engaging in a scheme to defraud a health care program. In a press release Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton said sentencing for Jessica A. Teets, 27, has been … Read More
PULASKI COUNTY (KATV) — A 32-year-old man from Desoto, Texas, was arrested for Medicaid fraud. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced the arrest of DeAndre L. Taybore Tuesday by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. He is accused of … Read More
BROOKLINE, Mass., Oct. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Bharani Padmanabhan MD PhD, a multiple sclerosis neurologist practicing in theBoston area who is called Dr. Bharani by patients and colleagues, filed a lawsuit in Federal court alleging massive violations of the Computer Fraud … Read More
Texas was within eight days of slashing the amount of money it pays therapists for poor and disabled children when a state district judge last month stepped in and blocked the move. It was the latest round in a high-profile … Read More
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Arkansas AG) – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced the arrest of a Pulaski County man by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Myron Thrash, 35, of Little Rock was arrested on one count of Medicaid … Read More
Washington, DC – The nation’s second-largest nursing home pharmacy, PharMerica Corp., has agreed to pay $9.25 million to resolve allegations that it solicited and received kickbacks from pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories in exchange for promoting the prescription drug Depakote for … Read More
Congress and the President have two months to hammer out a budget before the country teeters on another fiscal cliff. One big issue is the $85 billion in spending cuts on defense and domestic programs imposed by the sequester. Some … Read More
HOUSTON—The owner and operator of Elite P Care Medical Services has been convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud in a $1 million fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Verona Spicer, 46, pleaded … Read More
Jack Stick says he’s “the whipping boy,” the guy who became the face of the 21CT contract scandal as Texas officials pointed fingers and scrambled to save their own jobs. “I think in December of last year, people began to … Read More
Following an outcry from dozens of state lawmakers, Texas’ top health agency announced Thursday it will make less drastic cuts than originally planned to a therapy program for children with disabilities, even if that means spending more than lawmakers budgeted for the … Read More
The gap in dental care utilization in the U.S. narrowed between children enrolled in Medicaid and those with private dental benefits from 2005 to 2013, but a large gap remains between adults in those categories, according to a new research … Read More
EDINBURG — The new head of the state health agency’s investigative division visited with stakeholders in Hidalgo County Wednesday to learn about local healthcare issues and promote his vision. Stuart Bowen Jr., inspector general for the Texas Health and Human … Read More
Medicare spent more than $30 million during the first half of 2012 on ambulance transports for patients that appear to be ghosts on paper, according to a new report released by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Tuesday. The report revealed … Read More
With more large-scale, multi-million dollar fraud schemes surfacing across the country, enforcement officials are utilizing Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams to dismantle entire fraud operations. Source: Anatomy of a fraud bust: Collaboration creates efficiency
Hawaii’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is costing 10 times as much to operate as it is in exposing waste, fraud and abuse in the federal health care program for the poor and disadvantaged, according to a new report from the … Read More
A Lincoln pharmacist tearfully pleaded guilty Tuesday to health care fraud, admitting he bilked Nebraska’s Medicaid program of $14.4 million in what is believed to be the largest such fraud Source: Lincoln pharmacist pleads guilty to possibly state’s biggest Medicaid … Read More
Former Texas health official Jack Stick tried to persuade dozens of other states to buy Austin technology company 21CT’s Medicaid fraud detection system even as he privately complained that the results it produced for Texas were worth “a bucket of … Read More
Bureaucracy can be a real killer. An 87-year-old Brooklyn woman found that out when she got a letter from the city’s Bureau of Fraud Investigation saying her Medicaid has been cut off — because she is dead. “I couldn’t believe … Read More
The most successful Medicare Fraud Strike Force sent health care scammers scurrying all over the country — but hasn’t come close to running out of cases on its own turf. The Southern District of Florida accounted for 18 percent of health care … Read More
Jack Stick, a former state official at the center of a contracting scandal at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, on Friday received a sentence of six days in jail and 90 days without a driver’s license for a … Read More
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Medicaid fraud control unit and the Altamonte Springs Police Department said they arrested Orange County dentist Dr. Merys Downer-Garnette on Thursday. Downer-Garnetted is accused of billing double-billing for services not rendered, totaling more than $5,500 in … Read More
TYLER (KYTX) – Law enforcement officers in East Texas have arrested multiple individuals charged in a Medicare fraud scheme.A federal grand jury returned an 18-count indictment charging 12 individuals with Three Angels Home Heath, Inc., in a scheme to defraud … Read More
A Travis County judge has temporarily blocked the state from reducing funding for a Medicaid-backed therapy program for thousands of Texas kids with special needs, ruling on Tuesday that there was enough reason to believe the Texas Health and Human … Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three in four Americans (75%) last year perceived corruption as widespread in the country’s government. This figure is up from two in three in 2007 (67%) and 2009 (66%). Source: 75% in U.S. See Widespread Government Corruption Gallup
McALLEN—A 28-year-old ambulance company owner accused of submitting more than $1 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid was convicted Tuesday after pleading guilty before a federal court judge. Victor Lee Gonzalez, the owner of Vic’s Texas Transport Inc., … Read More
In the 1980s and 90s, driftnet fishing was a common technique used to catch salmon, tuna and other types of fish. It was an incredibly effective and efficient commercial fishing method. The nets, which were as long as 50 kilometers, … Read More
Former Texas health commission lawyer Jack Stick, found guilty Monday of driving while intoxicated, will be sentenced within the next two weeks, but no final date has been set, Travis County court officials said Tuesday. The former state representative and … Read More
