ORLANDO, Fla. – Medicare B recipients have become the unwitting front for a major billing scheme involving COVID-19 rapid tests in Florida and at least nine other states.
Scott Lampert, assistant inspector general for investigation services with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, confirmed that his team has received “numerous complaints” that focus on over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits that recipients never ordered.
“Criminals are purchasing stolen Medicare information, stolen Medicare numbers or they’re tricking Medicare beneficiaries to turn over their numbers,” Lampert told News 6. “They’re using that information to then order over-the-counter test kits which are then fraudulently billed to the Medicare program.”
Lampert declined to provide a total number of Medicare records in play but confirmed thieves have already used stolen Medicare to bill millions of dollars to the federal government.
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Eighty-year-old Charlie Ward, a retired Air Force master sergeant and chemical warfare detection technician and engineer in Volusia County, discovered his Medicare account had been billed for COVID-19 test kits dating back to August 2022.
“They were charged for COVID tests that I never received at $96 a pop,” Ward said. “This is crazy. The amount of money they’ve stolen is probably astronomical.”
Ward only checked his Medicare account after he started receiving test kits in the mail in April and May from companies in Batavia, Illinois, Lewisville, Texas, and Sarasota, Florida.
The outside of the mailing package from Batavia, Illinois read: “Rapid antigen kits at no cost to you.”
“Unless you go online and look at your Medicare summary, you have no idea what they’re charging Medicare for,” Ward said.
In April, a Florida doctor and a marketer were charged for allegedly purchasing Medicare beneficiary identification numbers used to ship over-the-counter COVID-19 tests to beneficiaries across the U.S.
According to the Department of Justice, the financial fallout in that operation led to more than $8.4 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.
“We are focused on protecting the public and going after the scammers that are taking advantage of innocent people and federal health care programs by engaging in this scam,” Lampert said.
If you have been a victim of fraudulent Medicare billing, go to TIPS.HHS.GOV. Include the lot number and expiration dates on the test kits along with the brand and the company or lab that mailed the kits to your home.
If you have an investment, Medicare or consumer issue, email makeendsmeet@wkmg.com or text the words “Make Ends Meet” along with your issue to 407-676-7428.
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