Defendants allegedly paid doctors to prescribe durable medical equipment for patients they had never seen and may not even had spoken to on the phone. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Twenty-four individuals, including the CEOs, COOs and others associated with five telemedicine companies, the owners of dozens of durable medical equipment (DME) companies and three licensed medical professionals, were charged by the Department of Justice in health care fraud schemes that involved more than $1.2 billion in losses.

The Center for Medicare Services, Center for Program Integrity (CMS/CPI) has also announced taking adverse administrative action against 130 DME companies that had submitted more than $1.7 billion in claims and were paid more than $900 million.

According to the DOJ, the alleged scheme involved illegal kickbacks and bribes paid by DME companies as a reward for Medicare beneficiary referrals by medical professionals who worked with fraudulent telemedicine companies for back, shoulder, wrist and knee braces that are medically unnecessary.