U.S. coronavirus stimulus went to some healthcare providers facing criminal inquiries

[alp227]

Source: Reuters

Eager to bolster the healthcare system during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. government last month sped $30 billion in stimulus payments to most healthcare providers that billed Medicare last year.

That speed resulted in taxpayers’ money flowing to some companies and people facing civil or criminal fraud investigations, according to defense lawyers and others representing more than a dozen firms and people facing such inquiries.

The disclosures about such payments have prompted outrage among some congressional Democrats, who say they highlight the problems with how stimulus funds have been distributed.

“I have an enormous amount of frustration with the way the Trump administration is distributing these dollars, and examples like these magnify the consequences of the White House’s efforts to limit transparency and stonewall oversight,” Senator Ron Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, told Reuters.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-medicare-exclu/exclusive-u-s-coronavirus-stimulus-went-to-some-healthcare-providers-facing-criminal-inquiries-idUSKBN22E00Z

[Hoyt]

1. I think the law/refs included prohibitions on that. However, there are so many

agencies — state and federal— who are involved in fraudulent/abusive billing and so many levels of appeal, I can see some slipping through.