 * Sebelius uses arrests to defend Obama healthcare law 
 
 * FBI investigating more than 2,600 healthcare fraud cases 
 
 By Jeremy Pelofsky 
 
 WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have charged 107 people, including doctors and nurses, for trying to defraud the federal Medicare healthcare program for the elderly and disabled of about $452 million, the biggest Medicare fraud sweep to date, the Obama administration said on Wednesday. At least 91 people were arrested in Miami; Houston; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and four other cities on a variety of charges: from submitting false billing for home healthcare, mental health services, HIV infusions and physical therapy to money laundering and receiving kickbacks. "These fraud schemes were committed by people up and down the chain of healthcare providers - from doctors, nurses, and licensed clinical social workers, to office managers and patient recruiters," said Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division. The amount of bogus Medicare claims, totaling about $452 million, was the highest in a single raid in the history of a federal strike force combating rising fraud in the medical industry, according to the Justice Department. SEVEN ARRESTED IN BATON ROUGE 
 
 The biggest cases were in Baton Rouge where seven people were arrested and charged with eight counts, including conspiracy and healthcare fraud for billing Medicare for some $225.6 million in unnecessary services and in some cases not providing services billed.
– The Justice Department's special Medicare fraud strike team made its biggest bust ever yesterday, charging 107 doctors, nurses, and other alleged fraudsters in a "nationwide takedown" affecting seven cities. All told, they're accused of bilking the government out of $452 million, the Los Angeles Times reports. Among the scams: billing Medicare for never-purchased power wheelchairs, never-held therapy sessions, and unnecessary feeding tubes. Health and Human Services also suspended or otherwise penalized 52 medical providers where it found "credible allegations of fraud." The lion's share of the fraud was allegedly committed by seven people at two Baton Rouge community health centers, who billed Medicare $225.6 million for services the government alleges were unnecessary and often never actually performed, Reuters reports. Kathleen Sebelius hailed the arrests as "another example of how the Affordable Care Act is helping the Obama administration fight fraud," arguing that the controversial law had provided the resources to make the busts. This is the fourth big bust by the fraud team in two years.