Friday, September 11, 2015
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In This Issue
 
Fraud in the News
The following are current news articles about health care and fraud issues.




Please share this Fraud Alert with colleagues, consumers, or other professionals in your area. If you have any questions about the Illinois SMP program, or to receive these Fraud Alerts directly, please contact Jason Echols, Healthcare Consumer Protection Coordinator at AgeOptions.

 

This document was supported in part by a grant (No. 90MP0216) from the Administration on Aging (AoA), Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Grantees carrying out projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Therefore, points of view or opinions do not necessarily represent official AoA, ACL, or DHHS policy. 

  

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Dear SMP Readers, 

 

This week's Fraud Alert features a home health fraud indictment, a seven year prison sentence, and a message for National Grandparents Day (Sept 13).

 

Have a great weekend!

 
Seven Indictments for Home Health Fraud and Kickbacks in Chicago

Seven individuals, including the owners and some employees of a Chicago based home health company, were indicted on charges of health care fraud that cost Medicare more than $6 million.

The owners of the company are charged with paying or conspiring to pay kickbacks for the referral of patients to their home health care company even if those patients were not homebound or did not qualify for home health services. Employees are charged with accepting these kickback payments and falsifying claim information sent to Medicare. In some cases, cash was offered to Medicare beneficiaries to use their personal information to submit false claims to Medicare. 

Read more about this case in the U.S. Department of Justice's press release (click here). 

Never give your Medicare or personal information to someone in exchange for money or services that were not ordered by your doctor. Home health fraud is a common area of Medicare fraud in Illinois. Read more about home health fraud and how you can protect yourself and your information in the Illinois SMP's Home Health Infographic (click here). 
 
Seven Years in Prison for $4 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

The administrator of Chicago-area home visiting physician company was recently sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in billing Medicare for $4 million for services never provided. Medicare paid $1 million. In addition to his prision sentence, the administrator must pay $1.3 million in restitution.

Read more in the U.S. Department of Justice press release (click here). 
 
Happy Grandparents Day!

National Grandparents Day is this Sunday, September 13. If you are a grandparent, we hope you can celebrate with calls from your grandchildren. Just be sure that it is your actual grandchild calling!

The Grandparents Scam continues to be one of the most prolific scams targeting older adults. Take a moment this Grandparents Day to talk to your family about this scam and put in place some safeguards:
  • Tell your family that if they are ever in trouble, you will try to contact them or their parents to make sure they are okay.
  • Have a question that only your real grandchild would know, like "What was the family dog's name?" or "What is the nicknames we have for each other?" Scammers will not be able to answer these questions.
  • Share the following AARP article and video with family and friends so that they know about this scam and why you are so concerned about protecting yourself and them.
AARP's Fraud Watch Network have a great article "Inside the Grandparents Scam: A Con Artist Reveals All" (click here). This article includes tips to avoid this scam and a video with a convicted con artist explaining how he played on people's emotions. So many people who are targeted by this scam say that they had never heard of the Grandparents Scam. Please share this article and video to spread the word about this scam.

AgeOptions Ideogram

 

Jason B. Echols, MSW,
Health Care Consumer Protection Coordinator
AgeOptions
1048 Lake Street, Suite 300
Oak Park, IL 60301
phone (708)383-0258 fax (708)524-0870
[email protected]

ageoptions.org

 

AgeOptions, the Area Agency on Aging of Suburban Cook County, is committed to improving the quality of life and maintaining the dignity of older adults and those who care about them - through leadership and support, community partnerships, comprehensive services, accurate information and powerful advocacy.

Fraud Alerts contain information about current scams taking place in Illinois, announcements and updates about programs or services related to health care and/or fraud protection, and links to news articles about health care and fraud topics. Please forward any recommendations or announcements that you would like to be included in a future Fraud Alert to [email protected].