Feds charge 15 suspects in multiple alleged insurance, Medicare fraud schemes

Read the original at ABC News (US) ↗
Cite

Pereira, I. (2026, October 23). Feds charge 15 suspects in multiple alleged insurance, Medicare fraud schemes. ABC News (US). https://abcnews.com/US/feds-charge-15-suspects-multiple-alleged-insurance-medicare/story?id=137483638

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

ABC News (US) · collected 2026-10-23 · by Ivan Pereira

Quick Summary

Federal prosecutors charged 15 individuals across several states in connection with an alleged fraud scheme that collectively took over $2 billion from Medicare and insurance companies. Eight defendants, including some physicians, were arrested on Thursday; arrests primarily occurred in California. The schemes involved fraudulent billing for substance abuse treatment, unnecessary atherectomy procedures, and hospice services for non-terminally ill patients. One of the largest cases focused on two people in Los Angeles and one in Texas who allegedly moved substance abuse patients across the country to enroll them in ineligible insurance policies, collecting over $1.6 billion.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-23, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

As of October 23, 2026, the Department of Justice charged 15 people across multiple states with participating in healthcare fraud schemes that allegedly stole nearly $2 billion from public benefits programs. The charges include fraudulent billing for unnecessary surgeries, fake substance abuse treatment, and phantom hospice services. In California, federal agents arrested at least eight individuals, including six doctors who performed unnecessary procedures to bill Medicaid over $130 million. These arrests were part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump's administration to curb public benefits fraud. The schemes involved trafficking homeless addicts into fraudulent rehab centers and offering them incentives like groceries and gift cards, exploiting some of the most vulnerable populations.

Written for “Department Of Justice Targets Fraud In California” on 2026-10-23, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 100942 · logged 2026-10-23

Story

📰 Department Of Justice Targets Fraud In California
Crime & Law · 3 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 58% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
California latest target in Department of Justice efforts to end public benefits fraud same event · 95%
Toronto Star
⚖️ Centre 🔴 33% hedged 1 of 3 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe the same federal charges and arrests involving 15 suspects for Medicare and insurance fraud in California, with a total of $2 billion in fraudulent claims.”
California’s $2 billion medical fraud shame hid in plain sight — all we had to do was look same event · 95%
New York Post
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 8% hedged 2 of 24 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe the same federal investigation and arrest of suspects involved in a $2 billion Medicare fraud scheme on the same day, October 20th.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
12
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
58%
7 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
ABC News (US)'s corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (US) · 1077 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)
2026-10-04
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Who wrote this

Ivan Pereira
19 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Five of the suspects were expected to appear in federal court in L.A., two were expected to appear in federal court in Texas and another was expected to appear in federal court in Illinois Thursday afternoon, according to the Justice Department.
2026-10-23 · speculative framing · Feds charge 15 suspects in multiple alleged insurance, Medicare fraud schemes
🔮 Arthur couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
2026-10-20 · assertive framing · Amy Acton campaign slams Ramaswamy over controversial ad featuring estranged mother
🔮 The shooting sparked outrage from many New Yorkers and elected officials, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani who called on the federal government to remove ICE from the city.
2026-10-15 · assertive framing · Man shot during ICE encounter in NYC still has bullet lodged in neck, attorneys say
🔮 The DA said he is also collecting more evidence from the incident and could possibly issue charges against the ICE agent for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
2026-10-14 · mixed framing · DA looking to interview 2 witnesses in backseat of ICE vehicle in Houston incident
🔮 We will continue to monitor developments closely as the facts become clear.
2026-10-12 · assertive framing · ICE agent strikes man with car during pursuit in Texas, authorities say
🔮 Stephen Ferrell and Luke Ihnen from Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, and Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason from the Tennessee Office of the Post Conviction Defender said in a statement that their client will continue to receive medical care in prison and they would track her recovery.
2026-10-10 · assertive framing · Christa Pike released from hospital following botched execution, attorneys say
🔮 The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will handle the investigation, Aaron said.
2026-10-08 · mixed framing · Man armed with gun, knife shot inside federal court by officers: Police
🔮 However, the panel ordered the lower court to throw out the 10- and 1/2-year prison sentence because of the AI generated video featuring Pelkey's likeness and voice that was played to the judge during the May 2025 sentencing hearing, saying the video "crossed" a line.
2026-10-07 · assertive framing · Manslaughter sentence tossed over AI-generated video of slain victim used at trial
🔮 He told reporters that he would like to meet Machchhar and thank him in person.
2026-10-04 · assertive framing · FlyDubai captain describes fight for his life after attack on flight to Tel Aviv
🔮 Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada said he will resign days after Christa Pike was hospitalized following a botched execution attempt, according to Gov. Bill Lee.
2026-10-03 · assertive framing · Tennessee Corrections commissioner resigns days after failed Christa Pike execution
Also by Ivan Pereira
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2026-10-20 · ABC News (US)
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Man shot during ICE encounter in NYC still has bullet lodged in neck, attorneys say
2026-10-15 · ABC News (US)
DA looking to interview 2 witnesses in backseat of ICE vehicle in Houston incident
2026-10-14 · ABC News (US)
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 19 articles by Ivan Pereira →

Topics

California Los Angeles Medicare Texas the Justice Department

Subjects

the Justice Department ORG · 9× Medicare ORG · 6× California GPE · 2× Los Angeles GPE · 2× Texas GPE · 2× Illinois GPE · 1× L.A. GPE · 1×

Narrative

The alleged schemes included billing private insurers for phony substance abuse treatment, billing Medicare for unnecessary atherectomy procedures (which are for removing plaque from blood vessels) and another charging Medicare for hospice services for patients who weren't terminally ill, the Justice Department said.
framing: speculative · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-23
🔮 Five of the suspects were expected to appear in federal court in L.A., two were expected to appear in federal court in Texas and another was expected to appear in federal court in Illinois Thursday afternoon, according to the Justice Department.
2026-10-23 · ABC News (US)
Feds charge 15 suspects in multiple alleged insurance, Medicare fraud schemes · speculative framing

Claims (12 extracted, 7 hedged)

Feds charge 15 suspects in multiple alleged insurance, Medicare fraud schemes One case involved billing for allegedly fraudulent substance abuse treatment. uncertain
case → charge → treatment
Federal prosecutors charged 15 people across multiple states in connection with an alleged Medicare and insurance fraud schemes they allege collectively took in $2 billion, the Justice Department said on Thursday. asserted
Department → charge → Thursday
Eight of the defendants, some of whom were physicians, were arrested by federal agents on Thursday, with most of the arrests taking place in California, according to officials. uncertain
most → arrest → officials
The alleged schemes included billing private insurers for phony substance abuse treatment, billing Medicare for unnecessary atherectomy procedures (which are for removing plaque from blood vessels) and another charging Medicare for hospice services for patients who weren't terminally ill, the Justice Department said. asserted
Department → allege → patients
Five of the suspects were expected to appear in federal court in L.A., two were expected to appear in federal court in Texas and another was expected to appear in federal court in Illinois Thursday afternoon, according to the Justice Department. uncertain
another → expect → Department
The biggest case focused on two people in Los Angeles and another in Texas who allegedly spent years moving substance abuse patients from around the country to California, the Justice Department said. uncertain
Department → focus → California
The suspects allegedly enrolled the patients in insurance policies that they were not eligible for and obtained the highest reimbursement for substance abuse treatments. uncertain
they → enrol → treatments
They received over $1.6 billion, the Justice Department alleged. asserted
Department → receive → billion
In a separate case, a Los Angeles cardiothoracic surgeon and a chiropractor are accused of falsely diagnosing patients with arterial disease and recommending they receive atherectomies, the Justice Department said. asserted
Department → accuse → atherectomies
The suspects in this case billed Medicare for over $135 million for the procedures, the Justice Department alleged. asserted
Department → bill → procedures
Three cases dealt with suspects allegedly billing Medicare a combined $138 million for fraudulent hospice schemes, the Justice Department said. uncertain
Department → deal → schemes
The suspects allegedly billed patients who were not terminally ill, according to the Justice Department. uncertain
who → bill → Department
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