FBI Medicare fraud cases a reminder: Federal health programs bleed taxpayer dollars

An elderly woman discusses swine flu vaccine with her healthcare provider in 1976. The federal government spent the equivalent of $500 million in today’s dollars, according to Time magazine. The vaccine had serious adverse effects and the government withdrew the nationwide initiative weeks after it began. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention image)Build a healthcare program large enough to accommodate every senior citizen in a country as big and diverse as the U.S., and any organization would be challenged to manage the money that comes and goes.

When President Lyndon B. Johnson socialized healthcare for US seniors in 1965, the bill he signed was heralded as an example of bipartisan success.

Nearly half a century later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has its hands full trying to recoup billions of dollars siphoned off by criminals who commit healthcare fraud.

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More Medicare fraud alleged—a mosque owner and a pharmacist charged

Updated on Friday, December 2, 2011 at 10:22AM by Kay B. Day, Editor

I really get tired of saying I told you so.

If you read here frequently, you’ll recall I like to do soapbox rants about Medicare fraud. Partly because I care about seniors like my mom and partly because my husband and I actually pay taxes—you can see where I’m going with this.

Legacy media is finally paying attention to this fraud, maybe because a progressive publication finally acknowledged it. Funny thing is, the Detroit cases appear to surprise the folks at Detroit Free Press.

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In Obamacare debate, Florida senator LeMieux highlights ten myths

Sen. George LeMieux pointed out 10 myths in the healthcare debate. One reality check: taxes will go up all around.When Florida governor Charlie Crist sent Sen. George LeMieux to Washington, conservatives in Florida paid little attention. After all, the senator LeMieux replaced would likely have supported HR 2454, Cap and Trade. What could be worse than that? But LeMieux served up a surprise on Monday by doing something President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats neglected. The Republican senator from Florida released a list of 10 myths in the 'healthcare reform debate.' The word 'myth', by the way, is a more polite term than ‘lie.’

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New cases show why Obama healthcare reform must tackle fraud

New cases involving Medicare fraud are a good example of what’s wrong with government funded healthcare. As President Barack Obama ramped up his strategy to reform or remake American healthcare—it’s not clear what the Democratic Congress is really trying to do—fraud in existing government programs continues on a grand scale. Medicare and Medicaid fraud aren’t topics for breathless anchors to explore on newscasts and magazine style programs. But the level of fraud costs both taxpayers and patients in the long run. Two cases in Florida and another in Houston are small examples of failure in overseeing entitlement programs that in the long run could bankrupt our country.

Yet few politicians ever bring the subject up unless a constituent asks about it in a townhall.

In Miami defendant Reinaldo Guerra pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud and one count of Medicare fraud. An FBI release said the fraud involved durable medical equipment—walkers, wheelchairs and hospital beds are a few of the items classified as DME.

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More Medicare fraud as Baucus looks for ways to tax us

(Washington D.C.) Montana's senior Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) listen during the first of three roundtable discussions on health care reform. Baucus is leading the charge to overhaul the nation's health care system. Baucus told committee members. "Our economy is in crisis, and health care reform is the only way we are going to get it back on track. What we hammer out at these roundtables is going to be the cornerstone of the legislation that we pass in coming months." Note the repeated use of the term ‘crisis’ by those crisis-loving Democrats. Note the ‘crisis’ didn’t begin until the Democrats regained control of Congress 3 years ago. I pinpoint the crisis as beginning with the leaked letter Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote about IndyMac, just in time for the 2008 elections. [Photo from Sen. Baucus’ Senate website]On the heels of President Barack Obama’s ABC-sponsored healthcare pitch, the FBI’s investigative skills have uncovered another $100 million dollars in Medicare fraud spanning 5 states. A Dept. of Justice news release said 8 Miami residents have been charged. The release at the FBI website actually names some of those who are charged in Miami. Michel De Jesus Huarte, 38, Ramon Fonseca, 45,Vicente Gonzalez, 38, Alyd Dazza, 45, Monika Blacio, 41, Ricco Dazza, 41, Orlin Tamayo Quinonez, 35, and Juan Carralero, 56, all residents of Miami, were indicted on June 18, 2009, on Medicare and other fraud-related charges.

Concurrently, a DOJ release breaks out charges filed in Michigan against 53 doctors, health care executives and beneficiaries for more than $50 million in alleged false billing in Detroit. No names in that release.

I’ve repeatedly stated the federal government is not capable of sound oversight for healthcare in a nation as large and diversified as ours.

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Texas case another example of rampant Medicare fraud

(Dallas, Tex.)—Irene Anderson, 45, owner of a home health care agency in Wylie, Texas, has pled guilty to mail fraud. Anderson created a fictional identity in order to defraud Medicare. Anderson set up a second healthcare agency in Sulphur Springs, which garnered $1,188,698, under the fictional name “Ilya Edwards.”  She obtained a social security number and a Texas driver’s license for that name too, falsely representing herself.  The Dept. of Justice says the woman faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She has agreed to restitution of more than $2 million. This is one small example of rampant fraud in federal health programs. In states like Florida, state government officers are going after people who defraud Medicare.

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