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Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

INDUSTRY NOTES:

Medicare's Strike Force Comes Down Hard on Dozens of Shady Providers

Published on Sun Aug 02, 2009

Plus: HHS no longer provides oversight of HIPAA -- you'll instead look to the Office of Civil Rights for guidance on this rule. Medicare's fraud enforcers are definitely on the move and aren't showing any mercy to offenders. In its latest sweep, 32 people have been indicted on fraud charges related to so-called "arthritis kits," power wheelchairs, and enteral nutrition products, according to a release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Authorities made arrests in Houston, New York, Boston, and Louisiana as part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services. The defendants provided medically unnecessary items or no items at all, the FBI says. "We will protect the Medicare program and its beneficiaries by stopping those who falsely bill for power wheelchairs, orthotic devices and other supplies that are [...]
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