Criminal charges have been brought against 455 people following a two-week Justice Department operation targeting alleged healthcare fraud totaling more than $6.5 billion in bogus insurance claims, according to The Associated Press.
Among the cases drawing particular attention is that of Jason Finkelstein, 53, a cardiologist charged in Florida in connection with an $89 million scheme. At a Florida cardiovascular testing and treatment practice where he held the medical director position, Finkelstein allegedly fabricated patient diagnoses — listing conditions like hypertension that athletes did not have — to clear the way for insurer payments, since companies require documented medical necessity before covering such screenings, according to The Associated Press.
Separately, authorities allege he routinely approved cardiac test results he never actually looked at. Court documents describe one episode from 2024 in which roughly 63 images tied to a single patient's examination were cleared by Finkelstein within 11 seconds of him accessing the file, according to the AP. The exam had in fact detected a severely enlarged heart, but because the results were fraudulently approved as normal, the condition went unaddressed; the teenage patient subsequently collapsed and died during a basketball game.
At a court appearance in Florida, Finkelstein entered a not guilty plea. Finkelstein holds licensure across all 48 contiguous states, and a lawyer representing him did not respond to media inquiries, the AP reported.
The wider enforcement action swept up defendants from across the country, including a Texas nurse practitioner who allegedly routed fraudulent Medicare billing for unneeded wound-care into purchases of luxury goods, a mental health company owner accused of submitting claims for crisis stabilization services that homeless clients never received, and a hospice operator charged with funneling kickback payments to a funeral home worker in exchange for tips about recently deceased Medicare enrollees.
At a news conference, Colin McDonald, an assistant attorney general brought on to strengthen the department's healthcare fraud enforcement efforts, framed the charges as an assault on some of the most vulnerable people in the country. "Our sick, needy and elderly placing their faith in the gift of medicine were neglected, ignored and used for personal profit," he said, according to the AP.
Update, June 24, 2026: The DOJ has officially named its enforcement action the "2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown." Among the charges, 10 Southern California defendants were charged in schemes including one involving nearly $270 million in fraudulent Medi-Cal claims and another allegedly defrauding Medicare of approximately $27 million. (per The Wall Street Journal)