JEFF SESSIONS GOES ROGUE WITH MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
The Trump administration has made it a priority to crack down on crime.
Whether it is illegal immigration, violent crime, welfare, fraud, or the numerous other
crimes out there.
However, nobody expected for the Attorney General to take such sweeping action to crack
down on it and so quickly.
Which is why the latest announcement by the Department of Justice regarding 601 American
citizens being charged en masse is absolutely intense.
The Department of Justice recently announced the following during a press statement:
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary
Alex M. Azar III, announced today the largest ever health care fraud enforcement action
involving 601 charged defendants across 58 federal districts, including 165 doctors,
nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health
care fraud schemes involving more than $2 billion in false billings.
Of those charged, 162 defendants, including 76 doctors, were charged for their roles in
prescribing and distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics.
Thirty state Medicaid Fraud Control Units also participated in today's arrests.
In addition, HHS announced today that from July 2017 to the present, it has excluded
2,700 individuals from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and all other Federal health care
programs, which includes 587 providers excluded for conduct related to opioid diversion and
abuse.
Attorney General Sessions and Secretary Azar were joined in the announcement by Acting
Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department's Criminal Division,
Deputy Director David L. Bowdich of the FBI, Assistant Administrator John Martin of the
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Deputy Inspector General Gary Cantrell of the HHS
Office of Inspector General (OIG), Deputy Chief Eric Hylton of IRS Criminal Investigation
(CI), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Deputy Administrator and Director of
the Center for Program Integrity Alec Alexander and Director Dermot F. O'Reilly of the Defense
Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS).
Today's enforcement actions were led and coordinated by the Criminal Division, Fraud
Section's Health Care Fraud Unit in conjunction with its Medicare Fraud Strike Force (MFSF)
partners, a partnership between the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney's Offices, the FBI
and HHS-OIG.
In addition, the operation includes the participation of the DEA, DCIS, IRS-CI, Department of Labor,
other various federal law enforcement agencies, and State Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
The charges announced today aggressively target schemes billing Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE
(a health insurance program for members and veterans of the armed forces and their families),
and private insurance companies for medically unnecessary prescription drugs and compounded
medications that often were never even purchased and/or distributed to beneficiaries.
The charges also involve individuals contributing to the opioid epidemic, with a particular
focus on medical professionals involved in the unlawful distribution of opioids and other
prescription narcotics, a particular focus for the Department.
According to the CDC, approximately 115 Americans d*e every day of an opioid-related overdose.
"Health care fraud is a betrayal of vulnerable patients, and often it is theft from the taxpayer,"
said Attorney General Sessions.
"In many cases, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists take advantage of people suffering from drug
addiction in order to line their pockets.
These are despicable crimes.
That's why this Department of Justice has taken historic new steps to go after fraudsters,
including hiring more prosecutors and leveraging the power of data analytics.
Today the Department of Justice is announcing the largest health care fraud enforcement
action in American history.
This is the most fraud, the most defendants, and the most doctors ever charged in a single
operation—and we have evidence that our ongoing work has stopped or prevented billions
of dollars' worth of fraud.
I want to thank our fabulous partners with the FBI, DEA, our Health Care Fraud task forces,
HHS, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Medicare, and
especially the more than 1,000 federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers
from across America who made this possible.
By every measure we are more effective at finding and prosecuting medical fraud than
ever."
"Every dollar recovered in this year's operation represents not just a taxpayer's
hard-earned money—it's a dollar that can go toward providing healthcare for Americans
in need," said HHS Secretary Azar.
"This year's Takedown Day is a significant accomplishment for the American people, and
every public servant involved should be proud of their work."
According to court documents, the defendants allegedly participated in schemes to submit
claims to Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and private insurance companies for treatments
that were medically unnecessary and often never provided.
In many cases, patient recruiters, beneficiaries and other co-conspirators were allegedly paid
cash kickbacks in return for supplying beneficiary information to providers, so that the providers
could then submit fraudulent bills to Medicare.
Collectively, the doctors, nurses, licensed medical professionals, health care company
owners and others charged are accused of submitting a total of over $2 billion in fraudulent billings.
The number of medical professionals charged is particularly significant, because virtually
every health care fraud scheme requires a corrupt medical professional to be involved
in order for Medicare or Medicaid to pay the fraudulent claims.
Aggressively pursuing corrupt medical professionals not only has a deterrent effect on other medical
professionals, but also ensures that their licenses can no longer be used to bilk the
system.
"Healthcare fraud touches every corner of the United States and not only costs taxpayers
money, but also can have deadly consequences," said FBI Deputy Director Bowdich.
"Through investigations across the country, we have seen medical professionals putting
greed above their patients' well-being and trusted doctors fanning the flames of the
opioid crisis.
I want to thank the agents, analysts and our law enforcement partners in every field office
who work each unacceptable to stop these criminals and hold them accountable for their actions."
Considering the support that President Trump has been giving to local communities and states
to fight the opioid epidemic this latest development is not shocking.
It is not just poor lower class Americans who were targeted here, everyone was.
Including doctors who prescribe opioids and fraudulently charge for services and prescribe
drugs that do not need to.
Hopefully, this will send a strong message to everyone out that that social services
like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are not to be scammed and taken advantage
of.
They are there to give people a hand up and not a handout.
No longer will the White House stand idly by why people perpetuate fraud against the
federal government with these benefits.
This type of fraud is something that is an incredible drain on the American taxpayer.
While every day average Americans struggle to pay their bills and deal with unprecedented
taxes others are taking advantage of the system and the American people.
The president and his departmental agencies understand that cracking down on this crime
is an act on behalf of the American people.
Share if you agree this gross type of injustice is unacceptable.
Share if you believe that Attorney General Jeff Sessions did the right thing.
Share if you think that the criminals should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law.
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