More Than 100 Charged in Massive Medicare Fraud Busts

MIAMI (AP) — Federal authorities have charged more than 100 doctors, nurses and social workers in Los Angeles and six other cities with Medicare fraud Wednesday as top lawmakers appeal to health care professionals in the private sector to help combat the costly problem.

Wednesday's national crackdown on unrelated scams that allegedly bilked the taxpayer-funded program of $452 million is the highest dollar amount in a single Medicare bust in U.S. history.

At the same time, six members of the Senate Finance Committee announced a bipartisan effort to begin soliciting ideas from interested stakeholders in the health care community looking for a fresh perspective and potentially solutions that may have been overlooked.

The effort is led by Ranking Member Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah and Democratic Chairman Max Baucus of Montana.