From The Wall Street Journal:
Federal officials said Wednesday they had arrested more than 100 people across the country for allegedly running a string of unrelated Medicare-fraud schemes involving a total of $452 million in false claims.
Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said charges were being brought against defendants in seven cities, including doctors and nurses, for seeking to defraud the federal health program for the elderly and disabled.From The Detroit News:
Detroit— FBI agents raided 10 locations across Metro Detroit on Wednesday and have arrested 19 people in connection with a $50 million health care fraud investigation, sources told The Detroit News.
That suggests Medicare alone makes $100 billion in improper payments annually. The Government Accountability Office has for two decades designated both Medicare and Medicaid as posing a high risk for fraud.It's a legitimate start... 1/2 of 1 percent of the estimated improper payments total. But it is also the government run health care system failure to police effectively that makes even these spectacular FBI investigations and arrests a small risk for those who skim and scam the system.