Dozens arrested in Medicare fraud busts across US

The AP reports:

Federal authorities arrested 32 people, including doctors, in a major Medicare fraud bust Wednesday in New York, Louisiana, Boston and Houston, targeting scams such as "arthritis kits" — expensive braces that many patients never used.

It's the third major sweep since Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced in May they were adding millions of dollars and dozens of agents to combat a problem that costs the U.S. billions each year.

Using about a dozen agents in targeted cities, including Miami, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, has recovered $371 million in false Medicare claims and charged 145 people across the country in just two months.

More than 200 agents worked on Wednesday's $16 million bust that included 12 search warrants at health care businesses and homes across the Houston area.

Just think, some people are worried about private companies wasting money on marketing and advertising for health insurance. We assure you fraud in Medicare and Medicaid is much larger than marketing costs of private companies.