Eight people were arrested in connection with healthcare fraud in Southern California, federal officials announced on Thursday.
Officials say these people ran sham hospice care facilities that got millions in Medicare funding by using people without terminal illnesses as beneficiaries, taking in more than $50 million in healthcare funding.
“For example, let's talk about one of the defendants that was arrested this morning, Lolita Minner, a 65-year-old woman in Anaheim,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said. “She ran a company named Topanga Hospice Care. She billed Medicare for more than $9.1 million over a five-year period for the care of supposedly terminally ill patients. This company had a death discharge rate of 85%. When you go to hospice, you're usually you're going there to die. You're not supposed to have an 85% survival rate.”
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said that in 10 weeks, they’ve already taken out 221 hospices.
“If you're defrauding Medicare, start running because we are coming for you,” he said.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
