At a news conference, Attorney General Eric Holder said the case reveals an alarming trend of criminal attempts to steal billions of taxpayer dollars for personal gain. According to the NY Post, “Holder called Thursday’s action against Medicare fraud one of the largest of its kind.”
The scheme spans several states, including New York, Texas, California, Florida, Louisiana and Illinois.
Medicare Investigates Penis Pump Fraud
Several months ago, an investigation revealed fraud connected to the billing of penis pumps.
Medicare payments for penis pumps have soared by more than 500 percent in the past decade. The cost of the pump is about $330, but the federal government has challenged thousands of claims for the device, believing fraud has taken place. According to ABC Action News there are several serious claims including:
- Two Florida entrepreneurs who collected more than $28,000 for 75 penis pumps purportedly sold to both male and female Medicare patients. None were ever actually shipped.
- An Illinois supplier who bought cheap sex-toy grade penis pumps from online dealers and reshipped them to Medicare patients, who never asked for them, then billed Medicare at a markup rate nearly 11 times greater than what he first paid.
- Two Georgia firms the government says used improper Medicare provider numbers to bill the program for more than $3.6 million worth of penis pumps between 2003 and 2009.
Both Cases Under Investigation
Both fraud cases are still under investigation. Authorities are looking for way to prevent fraud in the future and are looking at new billing techniques that could allow fraudulent cases to be caught or detect easier.
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