Mass. Cracks Down On Medicaid Fraud

Massachusetts authorities say 10 people have been charged in connection with four separate Medicaid fraud cases that cheated taxpayers out of approximately $10 million.

Attorney General Martha Coakley says a total of 118 criminal indictments have been handed down in the four cases.

One of the cases involves Adlife Healthcare, LLC, which provides adult foster care. Adlife is charged with defrauding the state of $5.5 million by billing the state for people who didn't get any services and for dead people.

In addition, Dr. Punyamurtula Kishore, the owner of a statewide chain of drug treatment centers who was arrested and charged with one count last week, was indicted this week in a scheme that allegedly defrauded the state of $3.8 million. It involved giving kickbacks to the owners of eight sober houses in return for sending patients to Kishore's laboratories for urine drug testing.

During a news conference Friday, Coakley said honest taxpayers end up paying more for their health care because of such schemes.

"When MassHealth is reimbursing people wrongfully, either through negligence in civil cases where we seek restitution, or in cases like this, where people are intentionally, they might as well be walking over to MassHealth and taking money out of the state Treasury," she said.

With reporting by the WBUR Newsroom and The Associated Press