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Six charged in Medicare wheelchair fleecing scheme

LTC Liability Monitor, December 23, 2005

Two physicians and four business owners in the Kansas City area have been charged with defrauding Medicare for wheelchair expenses, USA Today reported. The group allegedly billed Medicare for expensive, state-of-the-art motorized wheelchairs for people who did not need them. All four businesspeople owned or operated medical supply businesses, and they would reportedly travel to area nursing homes and senior centers and recruit seniors to receive wheelchairs.

Even if a recipient needed the wheelchair, he or she would often never receive one at all, or would receive an inexpensive scooter instead, according to USA Today. The six perpetrators are accused of defrauding Medicare to the tune of $2.3 million.

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