The Justice Department has charged 455 defendants across 45 states and US territories in a $6.5B healthcare fraud crackdown , which officials described as the largest coordinated enforcement action in its history and the second-largest amount ever charged in a single operation (behind last year’s $14.6B operation). Authorities say the schemes targeted Medicare, Medicaid, and other healthcare programs through fraudulent billing, illegal kickbacks, opioid distribution, and telemedicine operations. Those charged include 90 licensed medical professionals, while 295 defendants are tied to over $500M in false Medicaid claims. Investigators also seized more than $127M in cash, vehicles, jewelry, and other assets tied to the alleged fraud. The two-week crackdown comes amid the Trump administration’s antifraud push, with expanded data-sharing efforts across agencies (scroll to see coordinated effort ). Experts estimate healthcare fraud costs t...
HUD Makes ACU-Requested Change; Hearing on Payments Today; CU-Backed Candidate Wins in Utah WASHINGTON–The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has updated Federal Housing Administration (FHA) quality control requirements to allow greater flexibility and alternatives to appraisal field reviews in a change that had been requested earlier by a coalition of 10 trade groups, including America’s Credit Unions . The new provisions took effect immediately when released in a Mortgagee Letter on June 23, . According to ACU, the change removes the requirement for mortgage lenders, including credit unions, to obtain appraisal field reviews on at least 10% of origination and underwriting quality control reviews. “The change will make field reviews optional for appraisal quality control, maintain FHA’s core appraisal compliance framework, and give lenders the ability to tailor their review methods on a case-by-case-specific risk,” America’s Credit Unions said. “The r...