FRAUD ALERT
Friday, November 15, 2013
Please share this Fraud Alert
with colleagues, consumers,
or other professionals in your
area. If you have any
questions about the Illinois
SMP program, or to receive
these Fraud Alerts directly,
please contact Jason
Echols, Healthcare
Consumer Protection
Coordinator at AgeOptions.
This document was supported in
part by a grant (No. 90MP0163 &
90SP0061) from the
Administration on Aging (AoA),
Administration for Community
Living (ACL), U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services
(DHHS). Grantees carrying out
projects under government
sponsorship are encouraged to
express freely their findings and
conclusions. Therefore, points of
view or opinions do not necessarily
represent official AoA, ACL, or
DHHS policy.
Fraud In The News
The following are current
news articles about health
care and fraud issues.
Health Care Fruad:
1. “Medicare Spam
Increases 10-Fold”
(AARP):
http://blog.aarp.org/2013/1
1/06/medicare-spamincreases-10-fold/
2. “Centralia Man Pleads
Guilty To Health Care
Fraud” (DOJ Press
Dear SMP readers,
This week’s Fraud Alert contains warnings about Affordable Care Act
scams, fake calls from the IRS, news of a Rockford man’s arrest, and
a local tie to one of the country’s largest health care fraud settlements.
Have a great weekend!
What you will find in this week’s Fraud Alert
 ACA Scams Targeting Medicare Beneficiaries Make the News
 “Yeah, I’m the Taxman” – No! The Taxman Isn’t Calling
 Rockford Man Arrested for Alleged Role in Medicare Fraud Scheme
 $2.2 Billion Johnson & Johnson Settlement Has Illinois Ties
ACA Scams Targeting Medicare Beneficiaries Make the News
The Sunday, November 10th issue of The New York Times featured an
article titled “Con Men Prey on Confusion Over Health Care Act” by
Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Susanne Craig. Read the full article
online: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/business/con-men-prey-onconfusion-over-health-care-act.html
As the article points out, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not require
Medicare beneficiaries to change anything about their coverage. Some
scam artists are trying to use the Affordable Care Act to convince
Medicare beneficiaries to give up their personal information, including
Medicare numbers. If you or a loved one receives a call, visit, or anything
that uses the Affordable Care Act to suggest that you should change
your Medicare, please call the Illinois SMP at (800)699-9043.
(This article also highlights the efforts of SMP volunteers across the
country who work to prevent Medicare beneficiaries from falling for these
types of scams and the work of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.)
“Yeah, I’m the Taxman” – No! The Taxman Isn’t Calling
One of our SMP partners related this story. A resident in Southern Illinois
received a voicemail from an out of state number claiming to be calling
her about her income taxes. The woman found this strange because she
only receives a small social security check and had not been required to
file a tax return for years. Also, it is important to remember that the
Release):
http://www.justice.gov/usa
o/ils/News/2013/Oct/1029
2013_Mays%20Press%20
Release.html
3. “Ramsey Man Pleads
Guilty To Health Care
Fraud” (DOJ Press
Release):
http://www.justice.gov/usa
o/ils/News/2013/Nov/1104
2013_Sidener%20Press%
20Release.html
4. “Former Washington Park
Trustee And St. Clair
County Probation Officer
Pleads Guilty To Health
Care Fraud” (DOJ Press
Release):
http://www.justice.gov/usa
o/ils/News/2013/Nov/1108
2013_Suggs%20Press%2
0Release.html
Consumer Fraud:
5. “Tinley Park store clerks
thwart scam targeting
elderly woman”
(TribLocal):
http://www.chicagotribune.
com/news/local/suburbs/ti
nley_park/ct-tl-tinley-parkscam20131113,0,833539.story
6. “The jig is up for bogus
debt collection and rate
reduction operations”
(FTC):
http://www.consumer.ftc.g
ov/blog/jig-bogus-debtcollection-and-ratereduction-operations
federal government (including the IRS) never calls you directly, so just
hang up on these calls. This week, Sid Kirchheimer posted an AARP
blog article on similar scams called “IRS Warns of ‘Sophisticated’ Phone
Scam,” which you can read at: http://blog.aarp.org/2013/11/04/irs-warnsof-sophisticated-phone-scam/
Rockford Man Arrested for Alleged Role in Medicare Fraud Scheme
A Rockford, IL man was recently arrested in connection with charges in a
$12 million fraud scheme. In the indictment, the Rockford man and two
other co-conspirators are charged with billing Medicare for services
never provided by their home visiting physician practice. Read more
about the charges and this alleged scheme in this U.S. Department of
Justice press release: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/October/13crm-1151.html
$2.2 Billion Johnson & Johnson Settlement Has Illinois Ties
The federal government recently announced that Johnson & Johnson
would have to pay more than $2.2 billion to resolve allegations of
promoting off-label usage of prescription drugs and payment of
kickbacks to physicians and pharmacies. This news made headlines as
one of the largest health care fraud settlements in U.S. history. Read
more from the Department of Justice press release:
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/November/13-ag-1170.html
This national news story has a local connection as a retired Illinois
pharmacist was one of the original whistleblowers on the case against
Johnson & Johnson. For more on this pharmacist whistleblower, see this
Chicago Tribune article: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-1104/business/ct-biz-1105-jnj-side-20131105_1_johnson-johnson-risperdalcontroversial-federal-anti-fraud-law
Jason B. Echols, MSW, Health Care Consumer Protection Coordinator
AgeOptions
1048 Lake Street, Suite 300
Oak Park, IL 60301
phone (708)383-0258 fax (708)524-0870
jason.echols@ageoptions.org
ageoptions.org
AgeOptions, the Area Agency on Aging of Suburban Cook County, is
committed to improving the quality of life and maintaining the dignity of
older adults and those who care about them – through leadership and
support, community partnerships, comprehensive services, accurate
information and powerful advocacy.
Fraud Alerts contain information about current scams taking place in Illinois, announcements and updates
about programs or services related to health care and/or fraud protection, and links to news articles about
health care and fraud topics. Please forward any recommendations or announcements that you would like to
be included in a future Fraud Alert to jason.echols@ageoptions.org.