Friday, August 15, 2014
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.
Consumer Fraud:
- “How to Avoid Robocall Scams” (AARP):
- “Court Tells Tech Support Scammers to Pay Up” (FTC):
- “Did You Get a Call from Area Code (876)?” (FTC):
- “Relief from Tax Relief” (FTC):
Dear SMP readers,
This week’s Fraud Alert containsnews about a $98 million hospital settlement, a new campaign to encourage you to pass on scam prevention knowledge, and the National SMP Resource Center.
Have a great weekend!
What you will find in this week’s Fraud Alert
- Hospital’s $98.15 Million Settlement Has a Marion, IL Connection
- If You Know About a Scam, Pass It On
- SMP – A National Program
Community Health Systems Inc. (CHS) has agreed to pay $98.15 million to settleseveral whistleblower lawsuits alleging that the company knowingly billed Medicare and other federal health programsimproperly for hospital admissions. To read more about this settlement, read this U.S. Department of Justice press release:
This story also has a local element. One of the whistleblower lawsuits settled in this case involvedHeartland Regional Medical Center in Marion, Illinois, which is one of CHS’ 206 affiliated hospitals nationwide. In this case, the whistleblower alleged that the hospital had quotas and a corporate policy to admit emergency room patients as inpatients when there was no medical necessity for that level of care. To learn more about how this settlement impacts this Illinois hospital, please view or read the WSIL TV3 news report available at
If You Know About a Scam, Pass It On
If you receive this biweekly Fraud Alert email, you already know a lot about scams and fraud. Why not share what you know? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a new campaign to encourage people to share what they know about scams. The title “…Pass It On” says it all – when you learn about a scam and how to protect yourself from it, pass on that information by sharing it with a friend, acquaintance, or neighbor. The FTC has developed materials that you can share with others about six common scams. Find and order these materials on the FTC website:
To learn more about “Pass It On,” watch this video from the FTC:
You can always share these SMP Fraud Alert emails as well.
SMP – A National Program
Did you know that the Illinois SMP at AgeOptions is one of 54 SMPs nationwide? With funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), each of these 54 SMPs empower and assist Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers to prevent, detect, and report health care fraud.
As a network of SMPs, we receive technical support from the national SMP Resource Center, and the Center recently unveiled a new website at: this website, you can find information on the SMP in each of the 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. If you have a friend or loved one in another state, you can connect them to their state’s SMP for health care fraud related information or to volunteer. You can also call us at AgeOptions (800)699-9043 for help connecting with other SMPs.
Jason B. Echols, MSW, Health Care Consumer Protection Coordinator
AgeOptions
1048 Lake Street, Suite 300
Oak Park, IL60301
phone (708)383-0258 fax (708)524-0870
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 Alertscontain 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 .