Thursday, October 4, 2012

Arrests for Billing Unnecessary Services

Well, this is interesting:
Nearly 100 people have been arrested in a series of raids targeting health care fraud on a massive scale. Doctors, nurses, even top hospital administrators in eight cities in seven states were arrested in connection with separate scams totaling $430 million -- nearly a half billion dollars in pilfering. All kinds of fraud are alleged, much of it involving false billing for services that were unnecessary, or never even rendered.
Billing Medicare for medically unnecessary services is a scam warranting prosecution.  Billing Medicaid similarly must be, too.

Where does that leave doctors and hospitals who bill Medicaid for circumcision of newborns who do not need surgery?