The New American website reports today (March 2, 2012) that a Texas doctor was arrested on February 28 for "selling his signature" to process nearly $375 million in fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims in a scheme that was carried on for half a decade; $350 million was improperly billed for Medicare and $24 million for Medicaid.
Critics are suggesting that this situation only solidifies the fact that the government's Medicare and Medicaid fraud detection system is seriously flawed.
Federal authorities contend that Jacques Roy of the Dallas suburb of DeSoto -- and six other people -- certified 11,000 Medicare recipients through over 500 health providers across a five-year period. The alleged scheme operated from January 2006 to November 2011.
"Dr. Roy's company is alleged to have certified more Medicare beneficiaries for home health services, and had more beneficiaries under its care, than any other medical practice in the United States," U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole disclosed at a news conference in Dallas.
