Some Medicare Advantage And Drug Plans Expected To Leave California Market
Official information will be released soon, but advocates say seniors are already getting information from insurers that suggest some will curtail offerings in certain areas of the state. Also, a jury in Florida has convicted the owner of a home health agency in a fraud case.
Sacramento Bee:
Medicare Sign-Ups: How To Prepare For 2017 Changes And Avoid Scams
Although final numbers will not be released until mid-October, Medicare officials say a number of current Part D prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans are exiting the California market, starting in January. More than 11,700 seniors in Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties who have Medicare Advantage plans are likely to be affected, according to [Mariko Nakabayashi, acting managing attorney for the Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program office in Sacramento]. A number of Part D prescription drug plans also are disappearing next year. (Buck, 10/10)
Tampa Bay Business Journal:
Tampa Jury Convicts Health Care Exec Charged With Ripping Off Medicare
The owner of a home health service agency in Tampa was convicted by a federal jury for her role in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme. Pilar Garcia Lorenzo was the owner of Gold Care Home Health Services Inc., a company that submitted millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to Medicare in late summer 2014 for home health services that were never provided and had not been legitimately prescribed by a physician, a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida said. (Manning, 10/11)