Infirmaries used homeless people to make money

An Infirmary chief executive officer was caught on Wednesday in what authorities said was a scheme to recruit homeless people as phony patients and bill authorities programmes for millions of dollars in unneeded health services. Federal agents raided three medical centres and the city of Los Angeles sued the hospitals, saying they used homeless people as “human pawns.” More charges are expected, a federal prosecutor said. Hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties submitted phony medicare and medical bills for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of homeless patients, recruited from central Skid Row, state and federal authorities allege. While treating minor problems that did not require hospitalisation, such as dehydration, exhaustion or yeast infections, the hospitals allegedly kept homeless patients in beds for as long as three days and charged the government for the stays.