In a development in what’s being billed as one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes ever, a federal grand jury yesterday convicted the owner of a laboratory that performs sophisticated genetic tests of bilking Medicare out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The crime involved telemarketers allegedly lying to Medicare recipients by ensuring them that they were covered for expensive genetic cancer tests, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Telemedicine physicians allegedly approved the tests even though they hadn’t treated the patients and, in many cases, hadn’t even spoken to them. The DOJ said dozens of suspects might be involved in the scheme in which $463 million in questionable claims were made to Medicare.
Source: Genetic testing lab owner convicted in $463M Medicare fraud case / Fierce Healthcare