WASHINGTON, Sept 8, 2011 (AFP) - US authorities have charged 91 people over some $295 million in alleged fraud schemes related to Medicare, the government-run health program for seniors, the Justice Department said.
The accused include doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, and the charges relate to several fraud cases in a number of cities, the department said in a statement issued Wednesday.
It said the charges, unsealed over the last two weeks, were made possible by a task force involving federal, state and local investigators and designed to combat Medicare fraud by using data analysis and "community policing."
"Our anti-health care fraud efforts have never been more innovative, collaborative, aggressive -- or effective," Attorney General Eric Holder said.
The Justice Department said the so-called Medicare Fraud Strike Force had, since March 2007, charged more than 1,140 defendants who collectively had false billed the Medicare program for $2.9 billion.
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