medicare fraud

More than 1,400 pharmacies billed for questionable prescriptions last year, according to the inspector general at Health and Human Services. That includes prescriptions for commonly abused opioids.

One doctor alone is accused of causing nearly $23 million in fraud losses, including "over 1,000 expensive power wheelchairs ... that were not medically necessary and often not provided."

The federal government overpaid for nearly half of the patients of a Medicare Advantage plan, a Medicare audit found. At issue is whether insurers "upcode" diagnoses to reap bigger payments.