The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) wants your help in nabbing more than 170 people wanted for health insurance fraud. In February 2011, the OIG launched its first “Most Wanted Fugitives” list, which includes photos and case information for the top 10 offenders.

The OIG site also provides a form to anonymously report a fugitive’s whereabouts. However, no reward money is being offered, says Don White, an OIG spokesman at the Department of Health and Human Services.

“We have been looking for these people for quite some time, and all it takes is one phone call to put them behind bars,” White says. “We appreciate all the help we can get.”

For more information about these fugitives, visit http://oig.hhs.gov/fugitives.

Here is a look at the top fugitives and their cases:

Carlos Benitez, 49
Luis Benitez, 44
Jose Benitez, 48

The Benitez brothers submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, bilking the government out of $110 million. The trio owned and operated medical clinics in the Miami area that were supposed to provide treatments to HIV-infected Medicare patients. The brothers paid kickbacks to their “patients,” but investigators later determined the medicine was unnecessary or never even administered. Already, nearly two dozen of the Benitez brothers’ co-conspirators have been charged in this conspiracy.

The Guilartes owned and operated a Dearborn, Mich., medical and rehabilitation center and were able to defraud Medicare out of about $4.3 million. Along with Reynel Betancourt, the Guilartes allegedly recruited “patients” to sign forms indicating they received medical services, although none services were provided. Authorities captured Betancourt on Nov. 30, 2010, in the Dominican Republic.

Bendigo was director of nursing for a company that provided nurses for home health agencies. Authorities say that from 2004 to 2007, Bendigo sent unlicensed nurses to treat patients under Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. Medi-Cal requires licensed nurses to work, but Bendigo billed the program for about $17 million, pocketing about $10 million for herself, authorities say.

Nwafor, owner of a durable medical equipment company in Southern California, collected $525,000 in fraudulent claims for equipment that included motorized wheelchairs, scooters, and hospital beds. He was convicted in 2008 of conspiracy and health care fraud, but failed to show up in court for his January 2009 sentencing. In his absence, a judge in March 2010 sentenced Nwafor to nine years in prison. Nwafor remains a fugitive.

Moreno used fake offices to operate medical equipment and HIV drug scams that reaped more than $7 million from false Medicare claims, authorities say. The FBI arrested him in 2007. After he made bail, Moreno did not appear for court hearings.

Moos, formerly a general practice physician in Oregon, prescribed drugs and refilled prescriptions without examining patients or viewing their health records. He lost his medical license after he was caught refilling prescription drugs over the Internet. Even after his license was revoked, Moos continued to practice medicine and prescribe drugs, authorities say. A federal indictment charges him with ordering human growth hormones from China.

Authorities finally caught Moos in February 2010 in the United Arab Emirates, where he was arrested and found guilty of impersonating a prominent plastic surgeon and performing surgery in his villa. He was sentenced to two months in prison. U.S. authorities are working with officials in the United Arab Emirates to extradite Moos to face trial in the United States.

–Kevin Lyons

View the original article here

American motorists and auto insurers are fuming over so-called “crash taxes.”

A new poll commissioned by the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America found that 76 percent of American adults believe current taxes cover the time and services provided by emergency response providers following a traffic accident. As a result, they believe extra fees for accident response (also known as crash or accident taxes) that are being charged or proposed by cash-strapped local governments are not needed.

“There is strong public opposition across the country to this new trend of charging accident response fees,” Robert Passmore, senior director of personal lines for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, said in a statement.

Sacramento, Calif., recently became the latest American municipality to embrace the crash tax concept. On Jan. 25, 2011, the City Council narrowly passed an ordinance that charges out-of-town drivers a minimum of $495 whenever they’re involved in an auto accident requiring a response by firefighters. The ordinance is similar to hundreds like it that have been passed in at least 26 states during the past seven years.

Drivers and insurers alike are agitated by the crash tax trend.

“Not only is it bad public policy, it’s misleading and unfair to drivers,” says Sam Sorich, president of the Association of California Insurance Companies.

Proponents of accident response fees claim they’re an innovative way to help close municipal budget gaps without cutting services or raising taxes. Sacramento, for instance, says it hopes to generate between $300,000 and $500,000 each year from the new fees, while also helping avoid further cuts in the city’s Fire Department.

Crash taxes ‘unfair’ to policyholders, insurers

Insurance industry experts, however, are crying foul. Crash taxes, they say, are not only unfair to drivers, but also unfair to insurers. Industry leaders say the majority of auto insurers have not built this cost into their policies and, therefore, can’t afford to cover the expense.

“I tried to explain to the (Sacramento) City Council that if there’s an expectation insurance will pay for these response fees, that is a mistake,” Sorich says. “I don’t know of any insurance company making this a part of their auto policy. It’s the accident victim who winds up paying for the fire department’s time.”

Moreover, the Sacramento ordinance — like many others — makes no distinction for fault. In other words, if a driver from San Francisco is involved in an accident in Sacramento, it will be his responsibility to pay for the response fee, even if he wasn’t at fault in the accident.

“It’s unfortunate because policyholders are already paying for emergency response services through their taxes,” says Mary Bonelli, a senior vice president with the Ohio Insurance Institute. “No matter how it’s disguised, this is a form of double taxation.”

Bonelli points to the case of Mike (not his real name), a driver form Huron, Ohio. Several weeks after being involved in a minor auto accident, Mike received a bill for the two police officers who directed traffic, established a safety zone and made an arrest at the scene. For this, Mike owed $538 to the City of Huron.

The bill (as is most often the case) initially was sent to Mike’s auto insurance company. When the company refused to pay, however, the third-party billing vendor handling the case passed the invoice along to Mike.

“This puts the insurance company in a tight spot,” Sorich says. “We don’t want to have that kind of relationship with our customers, but the policy is the policy. If it’s determined this fee is not covered by the terms of the policy, you have to tell your customer he or she needs to pay it. That creates tension between the customer and the company, and we want to avoid that.”

Accident response fees ‘rightly unpopular’

The cost of these fees varies greatly across the country, ranging from $100 to more than $2,000, depending on the amount of services delivered. For instance, in Sacramento, a crash requiring an air ambulance for an injured motorist will run $2,275.

“We’ve taken a position that these fees are rightly unpopular. If taxes aren’t covering such basic emergency services, where is the money going?” says David Snyder, vice president and associate general counsel for the American Insurance Association. “We believe that emergency services in this country have evolved into a public good that’s paid for by municipal budgets, not by individual accident victims.”

With increasingly larger cities like Sacramento embracing crash taxes — and cities like New York weighing the option — it begs the question: Will this trend grow so much that auto insurance companies can’t help but figure these fees into their policies?

“I don’t think so,” says Michael Barry, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute. “While it seems like this is becoming a national trend, it’s still a very small percentage of municipalities that have taken this step. It’s still highly unusual.”

In fact, Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Florida, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Indiana already ban the practice of accident fee billing. In 2011, bills that would prohibit municipalities from charging accident response fees have been introduced by lawmakers in Arizona, California and Michigan, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

If crash taxes were to become the law of the land, Barry acknowledges that “premiums would eventually move northward.”

So, what should drivers do if they receive one of these “crash tax” bills in the mail?

“Just because you received a bill doesn’t necessarily mean you are mandated by law to pay it,” says Bonelli, the Ohio Insurance Institute executive. “Many ordinances are written as so-called soft billing ordinances. If you get one of these letters or bills, I would suggest you contact your municipality directly, get a copy of the ordinance and find out whether you are mandated to pay it or not.”

–Nick DiUlio

View the original article here

Beacuse, YOU the American electorate have not acted to pressure your elected representatives to change things.

First of all, Obama is not going to bring in universal healthcare. He wants to make insurance more available to all.

Second, of course universal health-cover sucks. That is why we in Western Europe have it. We think, hmm, our healthcare system sucks. I know, lets keep it. I guess that is the same with Japan and Canada as well.

FACT - the USA spends more on healthcare PER PERSON than any other nation on the planet.

FACT - the US has higher death rates for kids aged under five than western European countries with universal health coverage.

That means that a dead American four year old would have had a better chance of life if they were born in Canada, France, Cuba, Germany, Japan etc, all of which have universal health coverage.

is your google broken?

The penalty of not having health insurance for the first year (July 1 - December 31) is to forego the personal tax exemption. After January 1 to penalty is 50% of the cost of minimum insurance premium per month. You do have the option of appeal if you can demonstrate that you could not afford the insurance.

You can get insurance throught the state Medicaid office (Mass Health) if you meet the income requirements. Here is the website: http://www.massresources.org/pages.cfm?contentID=35&pageID=13&Subpages=yes

I would question your statement "Seeing a doctor isn't an option
for me".

After you've questioned that thought of yours for a moment
(seriously!) check the website below. Maybe get some ideas?

You have one against the City as well as the officer who towed the vehicle and the tow company. If you purchased it from the agency that towed it you have a case.

If you provided proof of ownership and the reasons for not having it properly tagged as the fault of the San Diego PD - the officer had a duty to inquire further with his agency in regards to the vehicle. His failure to properly perform that duty showed and demonstrated his incompetence. The officer and or his supervisor could have stopped the vehicle from being towed regardless of whether or not the wrecker arrived to take your vehicle

You should have the vehicle inspected. The exact reason or cause of the damage should be recorded on the inspection. If the inspection expert sites damage caused by the wrecker the case is stronger.

You can either COBRA your insurance from your previous employer(a very expensive proposition. They can charge up to 125% of cost) or check with insurance companies, such as State Farm, etc..

I dont know if they will be forced out of business. But nobody will buy stocks in them right now because of the obama. obama must be very happy.