15 Charged in Alleged $1.8 Billion California Health Care Fraud

Federal authorities charged 15 people, including six medical professionals, in Southern California health care fraud cases involving nearly $2 billion in alleged claims against public and private insurers; eight suspects were arrested. The largest alleged scheme involved more than $1.6 billion in claims tied to sham addiction-treatment and sober-living operations that prosecutors say recruited vulnerable people from across the country without providing genuine care. Separate cases allege about $135 million in Medicare billing for unnecessary artery procedures that harmed some patients, and more than $138 million in hospice claims for people who were not terminally ill, along with alleged kickbacks and other fraud. Prosecutors described the cases as an effort to protect patients and prevent health care funds from being diverted; the charges are allegations, and defendants have not yet entered pleas.