CMS/Medicare

ATLANTA—Brett Weiner and Valerie Desalvo have been sentenced on conspiracy charges for their role in buying and selling fraudulent doctors’ orders used to obtain more than $1.5 million in fraudulent payments from Medicare.

ATLANTA—Simon Orobor has been sentenced for conspiring to pay health care kickbacks payments for unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME), resulting in more than $20 million in claims to, and $13 million in payments from, Medicare.

NEWARK, New Jersey—A Florida man was charged in an indictment unsealed today for his role in durable medical equipment (DME) kickback scheme that caused $97 million in losses to Medicare, Attorney for the United States Vikas Khanna announced.

BOSTON—The owner of Expansion Media (Expansion) and Hybrid Management Group (Hybrid) has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty in connection with a $110 million telemedicine fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME), including orthotics such as back and knee braces. 

WASHINGTON—A federal jury convicted a California man for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that patients did not need.

A new report, 

NEW YORK—According to the Department of Justice, Lincare, a durable medical equipment (DME) company, admitted that it received reimbursements for claims that did not comply with billing rules and guidance and continued to seek payments in instances when it was aware patients were not using the respiratory equipment.

NEWARK, New Jersey—A Florida man admitted his role in a multimillion-dollar durable medical equipment (DME) kickback scheme, Attorney for the United States Vikas Khanna, District of New Jersey and U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe, Southern District of Florida, announced.

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida—Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the arrest of Alan Swiss on charges of health care fraud and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute.

WASHINGTON—A man was sentenced today to nine years in prison for orchestrating a nearly $2.8 million health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy and engaging in money laundering, aggravated identity theft and witness tampering.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), released a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit feedback from the public on how best to enhance Medicare Advantage (MA) data capabilities and increase public transparency. 

COLUMBIA, South Carolina—Durable medical equipment (DME) companies Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., Hill-Rom Company, Inc., Hill-Rom Services, Inc. and Advanced Respiratory Inc. (collectively, Hillrom) have agreed to pay $2.1 million to resolve allegations that the companies violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for payment to the Medicare, TRICARE, Department of Veterans Affairs and Medicaid programs.

GREENVILLE, South Carolina—Jeffrey Brooks, 40, of Clarence Center, New York, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In addition to Brooks’ criminal conviction, last year, Brooks paid $850,000 in a civil settlement to resolve allegations that he provided kickbacks and caused false claims to be submitted in violation of the federal False Claims Act.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri—A Columbia, Missouri physician has been indicted by a federal grand jury for making false statements relating to Medicare orders.

Jerry Joseph Bruggeman, 52, was charged in a 13-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

LYNCHBURG, Virgina—A November 2023 indictment, returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Roanoke, Virginia charging nine people with health care fraud conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice, has been unsealed following the arrest and initial court appearances of all nine defendants. 

ARIZONA—Atlantic Home Health Care LLC (AHH), a home health care agency operating in Arizona and eight other states, has agreed to pay $9,990,944 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICP or the Energy Program), a health care program administered by the Department of Labor (DOL) for the benefit of Department of Energy employees and contractors with occupational illnesses.

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MIAMI—A Florida woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting more than $192 million in claims for genetic tests and durable medical equipment that patients did not need and telemedicine visits that never occurred. 

NEW YORK—Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Naomi Gruchacz, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), announced the arrests of Erin Foley and Ted Albin on charges of health care fraud and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute.

LOUISIANA—A Louisiana man was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a multi-year scheme to bill Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME).