Feds charge 400 in healthcare fraud sweep

The federal government has charged more than 400 people in its annual healthcare fraud sweep. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called it the “largest healthcare fraud takedown operation in American history.” The billing scheme totaled $1.3 billion falsely charged to Medicare, Medicaid, and the health insurance program serving current and former members of the armed forces. Nearly 120 of those charged are accused of illegally prescribing and distributing narcotic painkillers, contributing to the nation’s opioid epidemic. Other charges include billing the government for tests and procedures patients never got. Nearly 300 providers have been suspended or banned from participating in federal healthcare programs. Sessions chastised the accused providers for ignoring the “disastrous consequences of their greed.”