Insurance fraud

September 18, 2007 -- OLYMPIA – Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna announced today that the state's Medicaid program will be reimbursed nearly $2.7 million as part of a settlement with drug manufacturers Purdue Pharma and Purdue Frederick Company. The settlement stems from allegations the company improperly marketed the pain medication OxyContin to health providers.    » read more »

First Time State and City Bring Joint Action to Fight Medicaid Fraud; Suit Claims Merck & Co. Endangered Patients, Cost Medicaid Millions

September 17, 2007 -- New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today filed a joint lawsuit against the maker of Vioxx for misrepresenting the dangers the drug posed to its users.    » read more »

FirstTime State and City Bring Joint Action to Fight Medicaid Fraud; Suit claims Merck & Co. endangered patients, cost Medicaid millions

NEW YORK, NY (September 17, 2007) – New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today filed a joint lawsuit against the maker of Vioxx for misrepresenting the dangers the drug posed to its users.    » read more »

September 13, 2007 -- PHILADELPHIA - The owners of a Philadelphia security business were arrested on Thursday on charges that they failed to carry workers' compensation insurance - as required by Pennsylvania law.

Attorney General Tom Corbett identified the defendants as Michael Kennedy, 35, of Ferndale St., Philadelphia, and Bryan McGraw, 37, of East Vernon St., Philadelphia. The two men owned Pro Guard Security, Inc. 8333 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, which specialized in providing armed security guards to various clients.    » read more »

Fraud ring staged auto accidents to collect on insurance claims

September 14, 2007 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL – A Broward woman convicted of conspiring to commit insurance fraud and grand theft was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by 10 years probation, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced. Tamara Taylor was found guilty for her participation in a staged accident ring that defrauded three major insurance companies of more than $100,000.    » read more »

September 5, 2007 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL – Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced the arrest of a Palm Beach County woman charged with stealing more than $20,000 from the Florida Medicaid Program. Amy Heather Spielman was taken into custody by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit after investigators revealed a scheme of submitting false billing claims to the Medicaid program for speech pathology services never rendered.    » read more »

September 4, 2007 -- PHILADELPHIA - Ten individuals were arrested today on insurance fraud charges for a 2004 bus accident that was allegedly staged so that passengers could cash in on false injury claims.

Attorney General Tom Corbett said that on April 18, 2004 a Wertz bus chartered to carry passengers from Philadelphia to Atlantic City was struck by a car at the intersection of Berkley and Morris Streets in Philadelphia.    » read more »

Fourth Trial Conviction For Medicare Strike Force Since March

Aug. 31, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – The owner and operator of a Florida durable medical equipment company and an assisted living facility has been convicted by a federal jury in Miami of Medicare fraud, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida announced today.    » read more »

National leader in assisted living falsely billed Medicaid

August 28, 2007 -- AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott reached a Medicaid fraud settlement with one of the nation’s largest assisted living facility operators in Texas. Seattle-based Emeritus Corp. has remitted $1.86 million to Texas to resolve the company’s false and inaccurate billing to the Medicaid program. According to the Attorney General’s investigation, Emeritus deprived its residents of legally required amenities and services.    » read more »

Operators of agency knowingly employed unqualified aides; Recruited providers of bogus certifications; Caused Medicaid to be billed for no-show jobs

August 27, 2007 -- New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s industry-wide crackdown on fraudulent Medicaid home care providers has resulted in the convictions of a Brooklyn Licensed Home Care Services agency (LHCSA) and its principals who stole millions from Medicaid by employing unqualified, uncertified home health aides and causing Medicaid to be billed for services never rendered.    » read more »

Aug 24, 2007 -- LITTLE ROCK - Over the past two months, almost every day reports have surfaced across the nation about the use of deceptive sales tactics by some Medicare Advantage insurance companies. As a result, last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that oversees Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, announced that it established a “special election” disenrollment period for people who enrolled in a plan based on misleading or incorrect information. Beneficiaries may call Medicare at 800-633-4227 to see if they qualify.    » read more »

August 24, 2007 -- Jefferson City, Mo. — Missourians who blow the whistle on Medicaid fraud by healthcare providers soon may be eligible for a portion of any money recovered by the state, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said. Under a new law that takes effect Aug. 28, any person who is the original source of information used by the Attorney General to recover money for the state may receive 10 percent of the state’s recovery.    » read more »

August 24, 2007 -- INDIANAPOLIS, IN – William Higdon, who co-owned businesses that provided taxicab services in Jasper, Indiana, has pled guilty to defrauding Indiana’s Medicaid program. From June 2004 through February 2006, Higdon submitted fraudulent claims of nearly $300,000 to Medicaid for transportation services of Medicaid patients.

“Anytime there is fraud perpetrated against Medicaid, our most vulnerable citizens suffer,” Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter said. “We continue to work with federal authorities to aggressively weed out deception in the program.”    » read more »

August 21, 2007 -- TRENTON - New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that a Bergen County man was indicted today for allegedly attempting to steal $150,000 by buying an insurance policy on the life of his wife after she was already dead.

According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Sohan Singh Gill, 46, of Elmwood Park, was charged with second-degree attempted theft by deception and two counts of fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.    » read more »

August 20, 2007 -- LANSING - Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announced today that his Health Care Fraud Division and the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan have negotiated a settlement of health care fraud allegations against Ciena Health Care Management Inc. The settlement includes Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement of $1.25 million and a comprehensive chain-wide corporate integrity agreement (CIA).    » read more »