Three Florida doctors and 18 others charged with Medicare scam

3 doctors, 18 others charged in Fla. Medicare scam
By KELLI KENNEDY - Feb 15, 2011 5:25 PM ET
By The Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — Three doctors and 18 other people were charged Tuesday with billing Medicare for roughly $200 million in bogus mental health services for patients suffering from Alzheimer's and severe dementia.

Prosecutors allege American Therapeutic Corp. and its sister companies faked medication and care charts and paid the owners of assisted living facilities and halfway houses to bring patients to their seven mental health centers for therapy sessions that were never held.

Some patients also cashed in on the scheme by providing their Medicare numbers, while others were "not coherent enough" to demand kickbacks, according to the investigation by the U.S. departments of Justice and Health and Human Services.
read more here
Medicare scaml