Fraud devours some $60 billion - or 13.3 percent - of Medicare’s $452 billion budget. “Rather than stealing $100,000 or $200,000,” federal prosecutor Kirk Ogrosky said last month on “60 Minutes,” criminals “can steal $100 million.”
One thief named “Tony” told CBS’ Steve Kroft that he robbed $20 million from Medicare. It was “real easy,” he said. He registered bogus medical companies, bought stolen doctor and patient ID numbers, and then billed Medicare for phantom wheelchairs, phony artificial limbs and more. Medicare soon delivered $20,000 to $40,000 electronically into his bank account - daily.
Medicare failed to investigate complaints that it reimbursed one company for injected drugs “at doses that were not medically feasible,” one letter explained. Rather than the proper $74 per dose, Medicare sent this provider $4,464.
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