The cost of genetic testing for disease assessment can be as high as $10,000. With that kind of money in play, opportunists see an opening.
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[T]he Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) updated a fraud alert warning Americans to watch out for scammers:
“Scammers are offering Medicare beneficiaries cheek swabs for genetic testing to obtain their Medicare information for identity theft or fraudulent billing purposes.”
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What’s going on here is the same pattern of activity that has occurred throughout the health care system: a great majority of law-abiding actors and a few that seek out opportunities to game the system of government reimbursement. If you can get a saliva swab and a Medicare number from an unsuspecting senior and falsify a doctor’s order (or find a shady doctor to write one), there’s an easy four-figure sum to be had.
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All a scammer must do is find a laboratory willing to split the profit from the testing once the DNA samples are in hand. With more and more labs opening, there are plenty of doors upon which to knock.
Read full, original post: Genetic testing: the next big arena for fraud?
