Florida - Leader in Medicare Fraud

Here are some data points regarding Medicare fraud in the Sunshine State.

According to authorities, medical equipment companies nationwide were paid $2.4 million last year after billing Medicare for vacuum erection systems -- with 90 percent of those payments going to businesses in Florida.

During the past decade, Miami-Dade County has gained the reputation as the nation's capital of Medicare fraud, with an estimated $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion in fraudulent billing activity for medical equipment, infusion drugs, homebound diabetics and physical therapy.

The latest trend, according to the FBI and U.S. attorney's office, is phony billing for mental health services.

Mental health clinics in Florida billed Medicare for $421 million in 2009, according to the agency's records. That's four times more than was billed during the same period by mental health clinics in Texas, and 635 times more than was billed by clinics in Michigan.

The only plausible explanation for such a staggering discrepancy in mental-health claims is stealing, authorities say.

Fraud in mental health services? I'm not surprised. Also, I suggest that we can expect the level of fraud to grow exponentially when national health care becomes a staple.

Heh.