Manila, Washington probe US health care scam involving Pinoys

MANILA, Philippines - The governments of the Philippines and United States are now working together to end a decade-long health care program scam involving Filipino medical practitioners and American war veterans, GMA News 24 Oras reported on Friday. The report said that the health care fraud that involved American veterans who sought medical attention in the Philippines has swindled the US government of millions of dollars. In a report by the Associated Press, the news agency said that “the US military health insurance program has been swindled out of more than $100 million over the past decade in the Philippine, where doctors, hospitals and clinics have conspired with American veterans to submit bogus claims, according to prosecutors and court records." The GMA News report said that American veterans took advantage of their heath care benefits by filing false information for their claims including fake amount of medical professional fee, which were certified by Filipino doctors. The AP report added that “health care providers in the Philippines filed claims for medical services never delivered inflated claims by as much as 2,000 percent and shared kickbacks with retirees who played along, court record reviewed." According to the report, the US government is having difficulty in extraditing people involved in the fraud in the Philippines. “Assistant US attorney Peter Jarosz said of the 37 people indicted, about 20 remain free in part because requests to extradite suspects from the Philippines have rarely succeeded," the AP report said. Interviewed by GMA News, Philippine Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said he is not aware of any extradition request made by the US government for people involved in the swindle. “We will process that. There are certain requirements under the treaty that will have to be met," said Gonzalez. Gonzalez said that he already heard about the health program fraud. “I have knowledge of a hospital group, which I understand has been blacklisted by the US for the anomalies in connection with overcharging," he said without elaborating. Philippine Heath Secretary Francisco Duque III asked the US government to provide his department the list of names of doctors and hospitals involved in the swindle so his staff can launch an investigation. GMA News said a Filipino doctor was already arrested in Guam in connection with the health fraud. Meanwhile, lawyer Jun de Castro, head of the National Bureau of Investigation- International Police (NBI-Interpol), said they handled four cases of health care frauds, two of these have already been submitted to the US and two are still active. - GMANews.TV