September 13, 2019, 7:36 AM
A CBS
News investigation uncovered a massive Medicare scam
where recruiters entice seniors to submit a DNA sample for a "free"
genetic cancer risk test. Many never receive the results from these companies
but their Medicare accounts are billed for thousands of dollars.
In part
two of this investigation, CBS News' Jim Axelrod looks at the doctors and
laboratories these recruiters are partnering with to bill Medicare. According
to government estimates, they are potentially siphoning hundreds of millions of
taxpayer dollars from the program.
CBS
News went undercover to find out how the process works. It starts with a
recruiter who convinces seniors to hand over a saliva sample and their Medicare
cards. One recruiter said she makes $200 per senior and that others are pulling
in more than $10,000 a month. She also said the bill to Medicare for the
testing can cost anywhere from $2,500 to $10,000.
After a
recruiter has gotten a saliva sample and Medicare card from someone, Medicare
pays the lab processing the swab – as long as a doctor has signed a test order.
So recruiters partner with willing labs and doctors who certify the tests are
medically necessary.
"We
are essentially the conduits that are basically flowing people into the
labs," the recruiter we spoke with said.
Bob
Thomas is a former federal prosecutor who now represents whistleblowers in
ongoing healthcare fraud cases. He says scammers are luring in labs with a
promise to triple their revenue.
"Once
they've secured the saliva sample and the Medicare card, they shop it around to
labs," he said. "The biggest problem here is kickbacks, because the
sales force is going out there to the lab saying 'Hey, I'll get you more
business, but you gotta cut me in on it.' That's not the way medicine should
work."
What's
even worse, according to Thomas, is that some of these people may not qualify
for legitimate DNA tests down the road.
"And
it's tragic in some ways because these people aren't going to get two bites at
this apple," he said.
Our
investigation found labs across the country billing Medicare tens of thousands
of dollars for unnecessary genetic tests.
Ken and
Judy Johnson were at an art festival in Fort Lauderdale last October when they
were stopped by recruiters representing a company called Genexe Health
promoting the cancer tests. Six weeks later, $19,000 worth of charges were
billed to their Medicare accounts by a lab run out of a former church in
Louisiana and yet, to this day, they've received no test results.
Daniel
Canchola is the doctor who signed Ken and Judy's test results. But they've
never seen, spoken to, or heard of him. Canchola declined to answer any
questions about the test orders he signed, so we met him in the parking garage
of his Dallas office where he told us we'd need to speak to his representative
and refused to answer any questions about whether he knew who Ken and Judy
Johnson were.
We
followed up with Canchola, who never did give us the name of his
representative. In a statement, the lab that billed the Johnsons' Medicare
account told us it is no longer accepting tests request from Dr. Canchola. We
also repeatedly asked officials from the government department that oversees
Medicare to sit down with us, but they declined.
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CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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