Crack Down on Medicare Fraud in Florida

Medicare fraud prosecutions are on the rise in South Florida after federal law enforcement intensified efforts to uproot Medicare fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced Sept. 30.

During fiscal 2008, the South Florida Health Care Fraud Strike Force charged 245 defendants for registering fake claims worth a total of $793.5 million. Those numbers were up from 2007, when prosecutors charged 197 suspects for Medicare fraud amounting to $638 million. In 2006, 111 defendants were targeted for $138 million in fraudulent medical billing.

Most of the 2008 cases involved claims for long-lasting medical equipment either never prescribed by physicians or never delivered to Medicare donees.