Medicare to cap payments amid rampant fraud

The Miami Herald reports:

Fueled by massive fraud, home healthcare providers in Miami-Dade County are raking in more Medicare money than their colleagues in the rest of the country combined -- thanks to bogus billings for patients with diabetes, authorities say.

Now, Medicare is taking tough steps to stop agencies from filing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in false claims.

The federal agency is proposing a nationwide cap that would reduce Medicare reimbursements to any agency treating homebound patients with diabetes or other chronic ailments. The proposed limit: 10 percent of the bill.

Though national in scope, Medicare's plan is really aimed at shutting down hundreds of home healthcare agencies in Miami-Dade suspected of submitting phony claims for twice-daily insulin injections by a visiting nurse, officials said.

You'll want to read the whole thing. It's like robbing a bank as someone says in the article.