Pennsylvania, federal officials announce ‘major healthcare fraud takedown’
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Updated: 1:11 PM EDT Aug 4, 2026Editorial Standards ⓘ
Pennsylvania, federal officials announce ‘major healthcare fraud takedown’
Updated: 1:11 PM EDT Aug 4, 2026Editorial Standards ⓘ
PHILADELPHIA —
The Justice Department and Pennsylvania officials announced charges against 19 people accused of participating in home health care schemes involving more than $4 million in fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims
Watch the full news conference in the video player above
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Officials said defendants billed for services that were never provided, including care supposedly delivered while aides or recipients were incarcerated, hospitalized, overseas or working other jobs
“Home care funding exists to assist America’s elderly and most vulnerable — not to fund schemes in which aides claim be providing care while incarcerated or vacationing in Miami and Saudi Arabia,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Today’s charges and the expansion of our Northeast Strike Force into the Eastern District of Pennsylvania send a clear message to fraudsters in the region: the Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue you and use all available tools to protect Medicaid and the programs everyday Americans rely on.”
“Medicaid fraud robs hardworking taxpayers, deprives vulnerable Americans of the care they need, and undermines the public trust that sustains our social safety net,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “CMS will continue partnering with law enforcement to shut down these scams while establishing new anti-fraud safeguards that flag criminal activity before the money ever leaves the building.”
Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks at Tuesday’s news conference.
Allegations
- One defendant is accused of billing Medicaid for caring for as many as seven recipients simultaneously. On more than 1,100 occasions, that person claimed to have worked more than 24 hours in one day, totaling over 64,000 impossible work hours and more than $1.2 million in Medicaid payments, according to DOJ.
- Another defendant reported more than 8,700 overlapping work hours, including nearly 400 days with more than 24 hours of claimed work, authorities said. The alleged scheme cost Medicaid over $180,000.
- A third defendant is accused of billing more than 1,300 hoursof home care provided to a Medicaid recipient who was incarcerated on state drug charges.
- Officials said one defendant, in a recorded conversation, called home health care “the best kept secret” and said the work had earned him about $500,000 over five years, despite acknowledging, “I ain’t checking on nobody.”
The department also announced the expansion of its Northeast Health Care Fraud Strike Force to Philadelphia. The initiative will bring together federal and state agencies to investigate and prosecute health care fraud in Eastern Pennsylvania
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