On Oct. 15, the United States Department of Justice announced that four individuals and seven companies were indicted as part of a telemedicine fraud case. The department’s official release noted that numerous conspirators intended to defraud “private health care benefit programs such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee out of approximately $174,000,000.”
As the indictment indicates, we are only one of hundreds of insurers impacted by this case. However, some media reports about the case have misattributed that $174 million figure solely to BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. Instead, we estimate the potentially fraudulent claims filed with our company total around $2 million.
We are working with authorities through this process in hopes of recouping these funds. And we remain committed to partnering with our customers, providers and law enforcement to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in the health care system.