Feds charge 15 suspects in multiple alleged insurance, Medicare fraud schemes

One case involved billing for allegedly fraudulent substance abuse treatment.

Federal prosecutors charged 15 people across multiple states in connection with an alleged Medicare and insurance fraud schemes they allege collectively took in $2 billion, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

Eight of the defendants, some of whom were physicians, were arrested by federal agents on Thursday, with most of the arrests taking place in California, according to officials.

The alleged schemes included billing private insurers for phony substance abuse treatment, billing Medicare for unnecessary atherectomy procedures (which are for removing plaque from blood vessels) and another charging Medicare for hospice services for patients who weren't terminally ill, the Justice Department said.

Five of the suspects were expected to appear in federal court in L.A., two were expected to appear in federal court in Texas and another was expected to appear in federal court in Illinois Thursday afternoon, according to the Justice Department.

Attorney information for the suspects wasn't immediately available.

The biggest case focused on two people in Los Angeles and another in Texas who allegedly spent years moving substance abuse patients from around the country to California, the Justice Department said.

The suspects allegedly enrolled the patients in insurance policies that they were not eligible for and obtained the highest reimbursement for substance abuse treatments. They received over $1.6 billion, the Justice Department alleged.

In a separate case, a Los Angeles cardiothoracic surgeon and a chiropractor are accused of falsely diagnosing patients with arterial disease and recommending they receive atherectomies, the Justice Department said. The suspects in this case billed Medicare for over $135 million for the procedures, the Justice Department alleged.

Three cases dealt with suspects allegedly billing Medicare a combined $138 million for fraudulent hospice schemes, the Justice Department said. The suspects allegedly billed patients who were not terminally ill, according to the Justice Department.