Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - September 25, 2006
John Dorschner, jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com
"We're very concerned," said Sandra Colon, a Medicare investigator. "This healthcare fraud is endangering the health of our beneficiaries." She said the federal agency was "aggressively" taking measures to stop the fraud.
Representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Health, Medicare and First Coast Service Options spoke during a roundtable at the 2006 U.S. Conference on AIDS, held at the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood.
The participants described how recruiters seek out persons with HIV/AIDS who have Medicare cards for disability at homeless shelters, assisted living facilities.
An FBI agent who did not want to be identified said recruiters for fraud clinics even go to meetings of Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous and mental health facilities. She called this an "egregious fraud."
John Marangio, a case manager with Positive Healthcare who treats many HIV/AIDS patient, said that many get only $603 from the government to live on and find the recruiters tempting when they offer $100 to $300 to go to a clinic for infusion therapy.
"I can definitely see the attraction from their point of view," but he warns them not to do so, because any clinic offering bribes to attract patients is not legitimate.
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