Announcement with CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz included charges against 19 defendants over more than $4 million in alleged Medicare and Medicaid fraud and a plea deal in a previously charged $1.7 million case.
The Justice Department said it is expanding its Northeast Health Care Fraud Strike Force to Philadelphia, pairing its Health Care Fraud Section with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as part of a broader push against Medicaid fraud. Announced at a Tuesday Philadelphia event with CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and federal law enforcement officials, the move came with criminal charges against 19 defendants over alleged schemes involving more than $4 million in Medicare and Medicaid claims, plus a plea agreement involving the final defendant in a previously charged 21-defendant case tied to more than $1.7 million in claims. The announcement follows a large June national health care fraud sweep in which the Justice Department charged more than 450 defendants tied to more than $6.5 billion in alleged false claims.