Fraud costs Military Health Millions
source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-04-23-tricare-fraud_N.htm?csp=34
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- jcwelker
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the U.S. military's health insurance program has been swindled out of more than $100 million over the past decade in the Philippines, where doctors, hospitals and clinics have conspired with American veterans to submit bogus claims, according to prosecutors and court records.
Seventeen people have been convicted so far — including at least a dozen U.S. military retirees — in a little-noticed investigation that has been handled by federal prosecutors out of Wisconsin because a Madison company holds the contract to process many of the claims. It has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
At the center of the case is Tricare, a Pentagon-run program that insures 9.2 million current and former service members and dependents worldwide. The United States closed its military bases in the Philippines in 1992 and withdrew its active-duty forces, but thousands of retirees remained. Some saw an opportunity to pry easy cash from Tricare.
Health care providers in the Philippines filed claims for medical services never delivered, inflated claims by as much as 2,000% and shared kickbacks with retirees who played along, court records reviewed by The Associated Press show.
"There just seemed to be so many possibilities for abuse of the system, and there were so few controls in terms of monitoring," said former U.S. Attorney Peg Lautenschlager, who oversaw prosecutions in the late 1990s.
Seventeen people have been convicted so far — including at least a dozen U.S. military retirees — in a little-noticed investigation that has been handled by federal prosecutors out of Wisconsin because a Madison company holds the contract to process many of the claims. It has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
At the center of the case is Tricare, a Pentagon-run program that insures 9.2 million current and former service members and dependents worldwide. The United States closed its military bases in the Philippines in 1992 and withdrew its active-duty forces, but thousands of retirees remained. Some saw an opportunity to pry easy cash from Tricare.
Health care providers in the Philippines filed claims for medical services never delivered, inflated claims by as much as 2,000% and shared kickbacks with retirees who played along, court records reviewed by The Associated Press show.
"There just seemed to be so many possibilities for abuse of the system, and there were so few controls in terms of monitoring," said former U.S. Attorney Peg Lautenschlager, who oversaw prosecutions in the late 1990s.
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danfrancisco31
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If we didnt have some many f'up veterans coming back we could keep track of this better.
- 4 years ago
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danfrancisco31
