Federal and state authorities have charged 19 individuals in Philadelphia with participating in schemes that allegedly defrauded Medicare and Medicaid of more than $4 million. The charges were announced Tuesday as the Justice Department expands its Northeast Health Care Fraud Strike Force to the city.
The expansion establishes a strike force office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, bringing together the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district. The defendants include owners and employees of home health care companies, alleged aides, and Medicaid recipients.
In a related development, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a plea agreement with the final defendant in a separate 21-defendant case that involved more than $1.7 million in claims.
According to the Justice Department, the cases involve allegations such as home health aides billing for services while incarcerated, hospitalized, working other jobs, or traveling abroad. One Medicaid recipient allegedly claimed a need for extensive home health assistance while simultaneously working as a carpenter.
Prosecutors also stated that other defendants are accused of submitting overlapping or impossible work hours, including claims that would exceed 24 hours of care in a single day. One home health care agency and its owners were charged with allegedly billing Medicaid for falsified clock-in and clock-out times.
The Justice Department indicated that the Philadelphia office will collaborate with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the FBI, the DEA, and other law enforcement agencies. This expansion follows similar additions to the strike force program in California, Arizona, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Minnesota, and comes after national health care fraud enforcement actions in 2025 and 2026 that targeted alleged losses exceeding $15 billion and $6 billion, respectively.