$93 million in Medicare fraud cited

Sellers of wheelchairs, drugs and other medical supplies collected as much as $93 million in fraudulent Medicare claims based on prescriptions from doctors who were dead, some for more than 10 years, a congressional investigation has found.

Millions more dollars will be at risk of waste and fraud each year in the billion-dollar government-run health program for the elderly and disabled unless Medicare officials address flaws in procedures, the investigation said.

The bipartisan report by the Senate Homeland Security investigations subcommittee, obtained by the Associated Press, reviewed millions of reimbursement claims for medical equipment and supplies from 2000 through 2007.