The Justice Department announced criminal charges Tuesday against 455 individuals as part of a two-week healthcare fraud crackdown, which officials stated involved more than $6.5 billion in false claims submitted to insurers. The charges span allegations of providing medically unnecessary services, defrauding Medicare and other insurers, and preying on vulnerable populations.
Among those charged is a nurse practitioner in Texas accused of billing Medicare for unnecessary wound-care procedures and using the proceeds for personal luxuries. A mental health company owner in another case is alleged to have targeted the homeless by billing for crisis stabilization services that were never provided. Additionally, a hospice owner faces accusations of paying kickbacks to a funeral home employee for information about deceased Medicare beneficiaries.
In Florida, a cardiologist, Jason Finkelstein, 53, is charged in an $89 million scheme. Prosecutors allege he billed insurers for cardiovascular screening tests for college student-athletes that were medically unnecessary. The indictment states Finkelstein would rubber-stamp the results as normal without personally reviewing them, despite concerns about sudden cardiac arrest among athletes. According to the indictment, one patient whose results were falsely certified as normal later died from undetected significant heart problems.
Colin McDonald, the assistant attorney general overseeing healthcare fraud prosecutions, stated at a news conference that the cases allege more than the theft of taxpayer dollars, but also the theft of human dignity. He added that the sick, needy, and elderly were neglected, ignored, and used for personal profit.
Finkelstein, who pleaded not guilty during a court appearance, is accused of leading a yearslong scheme from 2019 through the end of last year. Prosecutors say the scheme involved deceptive marketing tactics to encourage free heart screenings for students who did not need them. To circumvent insurance requirements for medical necessity, Finkelstein allegedly submitted phony diagnoses of conditions like elevated blood pressure and hypertension to insurers.
The indictment details how Finkelstein's company employed sonographers lacking proper credentials to travel to college campuses. Finkelstein, licensed in 48 states, facilitated nationwide claims. In one instance in 2024, he reportedly certified approximately 63 test result images of a patient in just 11 seconds. These results revealed a significantly enlarged heart, and the teenage patient later died on a basketball court. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, described the scheme as predatory and not a diagnostic company.