More charges in $1.2B Arizona-based Medicare wound care fraud case

Three more suspects are facing charges in connection with a $1.2 billion Arizona-based wound care scheme that preyed on vulnerable patients and defrauded Medicare and other insurers, the U.S. Department of Justice says.

The latest charges involved out-of-state residents connected with the scheme. Charges were announced as part of an annual health care fraud effort, bringing the tally of suspects in the wound care scheme to at least 13.

Medicare is a federal health insurance program primarily for people aged 65 and older and is funded by tax revenue and enrollees’ premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

Two Valley residents, Alexandra Gehrke and Jeffrey King,…

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IT & DATA SECURITY (MITIGATING THE “INSIDER THREAT”)

As seen in the TD Bank case, an employee with too much “access” can sell your customer data to syndicates.

• Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Employees should only have access to the specific folders and databases required for their current task.
• Access Revocation: Have a “Termination Checklist” that ensures all digital access (Email, VPN, Banking) is revoked within 60 minutes of an employee resigning or being dismissed.
• System Logs & Audit Trails: Enable “Read/Write Logging” on your server. If a customer’s data is leaked, you need to know exactly which login accessed that record and at what time.
• Encryption at Rest: Ensure that sensitive files (like your customer ID numbers or payroll spreadsheets) are encrypted so that if a staff member copies them to a USB, they cannot be read.