More Than 400 People Charged for $1.3 Billion in Medicaid and Medicare Fraud

The Justice Department charged more than 400 people across the country in a major crackdown on health care fraud, officials said Thursday. The accused individuals cost the federal government $1.3 billion in false Medicare and Medicaid billings, according to authorities.

The investigation focused on opioid-related crimes as the government continues to try to address the public health crisis that has been sweeping the country.

Many of the health care providers charged had billed Medicaid and Medicare for drugs that were never purchased, while others took advantage of addicts by giving out unnecessary opioid prescriptions for cash or charging for false treatments, according to the Justice Department. “Some doctors wrote out more prescriptions for controlled substances in one month than entire hospitals were writing,”

Read more at Time