WASHINTON, D.C. (September 9, 2022)—More than 1,700 Medicare providers have indications that they fraudulently billed Medicare for telehealth services, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG). These providers billed telehealth services for about half a million beneficiaries and received a total of $127.7 million in Medicare fee-for-service payments.
fraud
PITTSBURGH (August 25, 2022)—A federal court has ordered a Pennsylvania mother and daughter to pay more than $2.4 million in overtime back wages and liquidated damages, after a three-day trial confirmed the pair used illegal pay practices to avoid paying full wages to 345 workers who provided daily living assistance and home healthcare in the Pittsburgh area.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 22, 2022)—The Department of Justice announced criminal charges against 36 defendants in 13 federal districts across the United States for more than $1.2 billion in alleged fraudulent telemedicine, cardiovascular and cancer genetic testing, and durable medical equipment (DME) schemes.
DAYTON, Ohio (July 12, 2022)—A federal investigation has recovered $133,661 in back wages for 63 workers of a Dayton home health care provider who misclassified its employees as independent contractors, denied workers overtime pay and falsified payroll records to hide the violations.
DALLAS, Texas (May 17, 2022)—A federal jury in Dallas, Texas, convicted the owners and operators of four orthotic brace suppliers in Texas and Arkansas for a $6.5 million illegal kickback scheme, including violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
HOUSTON (May 6, 2022)—A Texas home health agency owner and patient recruiter have been arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit, committing health care fraud and conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
GREENVILLE, Miss. (April 8, 2022)—A federal jury convicted a Cleveland, Mississippi physician on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud for his role in referring and certifying patients to hospice who were not terminally ill and should not have been placed on hospice care.
BOSTON (March 29, 2022)—Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced that home health agency Compassionate Homecare, Inc. has agreed to pay $6.53 million to MassHealth to resolve allegations that it billed MassHealth for services that were not authorized by a physician. In addition, up to $375,000 will be set aside for payment of unpaid wages for former Compassionate employees.
SACREMENTO, Calif. (March 18, 2022)—Two members of a network that operated and facilitated a large-scale “grandparent scam,” pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy. Timothy Ingram, aka Bleezy, 29, of North Hollywood, California pleaded guilty on March 2, and Jack Owuor, 25, of Paramount, California pleaded guilty on March 9.
BOSTON (February 18, 2022)—A Florida man was sentenced for his role in a multi-million-dollar Medicare fraud scheme involving durable medical equipment (DME).
PORTLAND, Maine (February 1, 2022)—A federal grand jury in Portland, Maine, returned an indictment charging four managers of home health care agencies with participating in a conspiracy to suppress the wages and restrict the job mobility of essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
AUSTIN, Texas (December 9, 2021)—Two doctors who helped a local hospice agency scam Medicare were sentenced to a combined 23 years in prison for health care fraud, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
CHICAGO (December 2, 2021)—An Illinois woman was sentenced yesterday in the Northern District of Illinois to 56 months in prison and ordered to pay $6.3 million in restitution for her participation in a conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud.
ATLANTA (November 23, 2021)—PruittHealth, Inc. and affiliated entities have agreed to pay $4.2 million to resolve allegations that they submitted claims for home health services that were not covered by the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and that they failed to refund overpayments that they had received from Medicare and Medicaid in a timely manner.
Updated to include quote from BAYADA.
MOORESTOWN, N.J. (September 9, 2021)—BAYADA, BAYADA Home Health Care Inc., BAYADA Health LLC and BAYADA Home Care (collectively, the BAYADA Companies), headquartered in Moorestown, New Jersey, have agreed to pay $17 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act’s Anti-Kickback Statute by paying a kickback to a retirement home operator by purchasing two of its home health agencies (HHAs) located in Arizona.
ATLANTA (September 7, 2021)—In mid-August, the United States’ Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that Kevin Rumph, Jr., 41, of Fairburn, Georgia, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of medical products. Rumph used his U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) issued credit card to buy over $1.9 million worth of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) equipment, which he stole and then sold.
OAKLAND (August 26, 2021)—California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a $3.31 million settlement against home respiratory services company, SuperCare Health Inc. (SuperCare) for defrauding the state and federal government by knowingly billing Medicare and Medi-Cal for servicing ventilators that were no longer medically necessary.
NEWARK, N.J. (August 12, 2021)—A federal grand jury in Newark, New Jersey, returned a superseding indictment this week charging a Florida owner of multiple telemedicine companies with orchestrating a health care fraud and illegal kickback scheme that involved the submission of over $784 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. This is one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes ever charged by the Justice Department.
PHOENIX, Arizona (July 13, 2021)—A number of legal and government entities will be hunting for fraud around COVID-19 relief programs, and the health care sector—the largest recipient of first-draw Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans—is dead in their sights.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (October 9, 2020)—In what is the third in a nationwide series of telemedicine fraud prosecutions, more than 40 people in South Carolina and Georgia are being charged. The charges add up to hundreds of millions in fraudulent billings.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (July 15, 2020)—A Florida man who operated a durable medical equipment company has been charged for his alleged participation in a Medicare kickback and telemedicine fraud scheme.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (April 29, 2020)—A Georgia woman who operated a telemedicine network through two companies has been charged for her alleged participation in an ever-growing health care and telemedicine fraud scheme.