Medicare scams infect Detroit as recruiters use poor to steal millions

I love Detroit, It ain't the Nicest city I have ever lived by but it ain't the worst either.
A problem that is not unique to a city like Detroit "Corruption", every since the days of former Mayor Coleman Young, the city has gone downhill; though it has its moments that make you think it will turn around.

Then you get Douchebags like these people, ripping off and raping anything and everyone in sight, yes it happens in other cities, but dammit if it does not make Detroit look worse.

Detroit Free Press
Detroit has become one of the nation's "new frontiers" for Medicare fraud with many scams run by operators fleeing a federal crackdown in Miami.

Authorities say operators use recruiters to target poor men on Detroit streets, at soup kitchens and in homeless shelters. They shuttle them in vans to clinics set up for the scams or run by licensed providers trying to bilk the system for bogus treatments or for care never rendered or needed. Operators take their Medicare information in exchange for $50 or more.

Detroit's unemployment rate makes it a particularly vulnerable target. Authorities have identified at least $120 million in fraudulent billings in metro Detroit.

The businesses investigated include physical therapy clinics, home health care agencies, medical equipment providers and podiatry offices. More regulation and prosecution is needed, some attorneys say.

"It's like banks without an alarm system," said David Haron, a Troy attorney who specializes in Medicare and Medicaid fraud, referring to the ease with which some medical businesses are established.