Monterey, CA Hospitals, Doctors & Nurses Preying On The Poor : Read About The Grand Jury Indictments

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Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud has become increasingly common.  It hurts us all, because it's money leaking out of the government which eventually causes benefits for seniors and the poor to be reduced.  I've written about it many times on my blog and I am happy that the government remains diligent in trying to track down these thieves.  Unbelievably, the latest report of Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud involves not only doctors and nurses, but the president of a hospital and his son.  Attorney General Eric Holder held a press conference last Thursday to announce that 91 people had been charged with $429 million in fake billings to Medicare and Medicaid all over the country, from Los Angeles to Brooklyn New York.  The President of Houston's Riverside General hospital, Earnest Gibson III as well as his son, Earnest Gibson IV and five others at the hospital are among those arrested.  In addition to the false billings, the hospital preyed on the poor, offering them food and cigarettes if they attended mental health programs the hospital put on for which the hospital could bill the government.  Some patients watched TV instead of actually going to the program, a government official said.  After the press conference, a clerk at Riverside General, which is accused of defrauding the government of $158 million, read a statement.  It said, in part, that the hospital's board was "saddened as to the tactics utilized against this hospital," and that it backed their president who had been indicted.  Although everyone is innocent until proven guilty, it's shocking that a hospital board would immediately come out and praise an employee who had been indicted for one of the biggest cases of government fraud in history before they did a full investigation.  It's unlikely that the government would charge a hospital of defrauding the government of more than $150 million without a significant amount of proof.  And the fact that they unveiled the 91 sealed indictments at the same time signals that these investigations have been ongoing for some time and the proof was enough to convince a number of grand juries to issue indictments.  Let's hope the sentences in this case are long enough to scare off others thinking of doing the same thing.  It's the second government case brought this year that involved more than $400 million in false billings.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of HandsTo Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.