Washington, Sep 10 (IANS) The US Treasury Department said that financial institutions had identified about $17.5 billion in suspicious transactions potentially connected to healthcare fraud.
The findings were released by the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, following an analysis of reports submitted under the Bank Secrecy Act.
FinCEN examined 5,702 reports filed by financial institutions between March 1, 2025, and February 28, 2026.
The reports covered suspicious financial activity potentially involving Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance companies and other healthcare benefit programmes.
“By identifying and reporting this suspicious activity, financial institutions have given law enforcement critical insight into the illicit actors who deliberately exploit US health care benefits programs,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
“Treasury will continue working alongside our law enforcement partners to disrupt fraud wherever it occurs, protect Americans, and safeguard the integrity of taxpayer-funded programs,” he added.
Depository institutions submitted about 89 per cent of the reports examined by FinCEN. Those reports represented nearly 87 per cent of the total value of suspicious activity identified in the analysis.
Potentially fraudulent payments frequently came from a combination of federal and state benefit programmes and private insurers, according to the Treasury.
Medicare-related payments often originated from Medicare administrative contractors, while Medicaid payments came through state-level administrators.
The filings identified subjects in every US state, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands. Of approximately 13,000 subject addresses included in the data, around 1.5 per cent were foreign addresses.
Home healthcare businesses constituted the largest category of providers suspected of involvement. They appeared in 20 per cent of all healthcare fraud-related reports.
Other frequently identified providers included hospice companies, mental and behavioural health organisations, addiction-treatment providers, medical-equipment suppliers and adult or child daycare businesses.
FinCEN said suspected perpetrators used several money-laundering techniques before spending the funds.
In some cases, suspected fraud proceeds that had not passed through a complex series of transfers were spent on personal expenses and luxury goods. Some of the money was also transferred outside the United States.
A small percentage of the reports described suspected activity potentially involving large fraud rings, criminal networks or foreign entities.
--IANS
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