Feds take down $1B Medicare fraud scheme

Two dozen people, including doctors and owners of medical equipment companies, were charged in a more than $1 billion Medicare scam, authorities said Tuesday. Called Operation Brace Yourself, the investigation discovered that medical brace manufacturers were allegedly paying kickbacks and bribes to doctors working with fraudulent telemedicine companies in exchange for Medicare patient referrals for medically unnecessary braces. The family of Neale Sweetman, who lives in Rochester, N.Y., said he received a box of unwanted back and knee braces sent by a medical supply company in Florida and prescribed by a doctor in another state.

Source: www.nbcnews.com