The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently published its Fall 2019 Semiannual Report to Congress. The Report covers the period of April 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019, and identifies “significant problems, abuses, deficiencies, remedies, and investigative outcomes relating to the administration of HHS programs and operations” for that period.
The report highlighted a “first-of-its-kind” investigation into a major genetic testing fraud scheme, which the report characterized as “the one of the largest healthcare schemes ever charged.” In that case, 35 defendants, including 9 doctors, associated with telemedicine companies and labs were charged with fraudulently billing Medicare for cancer-related genetic tests. The scheme, which involved the payment of illegal kickbacks and bribes, resulted in a more than $2.1 billion loss.