Foreign Medical Program (FMP)

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is committed to ensuring every Veteran in Panama has access to the health care they need, whenever they need it. 

In light of recent developments, we wanted to address concerns regarding a group of medical providers in Panama who have been suspended due to their alleged involvement in a long-term fraudulent scheme. These providers were implicated in a criminal complaint for submitting thousands of allegedly false claims to VA’s Foreign Medical Program for services that were double billed, grossly overpriced, unnecessary, or not rendered, resulting in an estimated loss of $67 million. 

VA’s top priority is the health and safety of Veterans in the United States and around the world. As such, VA is taking action to protect Veterans from further fraud, waste, and abuse.

At the recommendation of the VA Office of the Inspector General, we have suspended these providers to protect Veterans from further fraud, waste, and abuse. Due to the investigation’s findings, suspending these providers and then potentially moving to debar them as appropriate will protect the public interest by preventing fraud against VA programs, Veterans, and the Federal Government at large. 

Moreover, this suspension impacts approximately 1,030 Veterans living in Panama. Rest assured, these Veterans have been notified of the suspension and have several options to receive health care services from other Panamanian medical providers who are not on the suspension list. 

According to data from the U.S. International Trade Administration in 2020, there were more than 6,500 physicians practicing medicine in Panama. Veterans can also contact the Foreign Medical Program for administrative care coordination assistance. The Foreign Medical Program will continue to process all medical claims from Panama that include local businesses not on the suspension list.

With this unprecedented suspension, VA’s message to the greater Central America region and beyond is that we will take action to protect Veterans from international medical providers who are under active investigation for fraud, waste, or abuse of the Foreign Medical Program.