Author Archives: Staff

Alliance Healthcare Services patient recruiter, Ollie Futrell, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge for engaging in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid, announced the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Her four co-owners also pled guilty last week for their roles in the fraud scheme. The case was the first to be prosecuted by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Dallas.

Read more at: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/December/11-crm-1657.html

Three owners of Spectrum Care in West Houston, a mental health care program, were arrested for defrauding Medicare out of $90 million in fake treatments. According to the indictment, Mansour Sanjar, Cyrus Sajadi, and Chandra Nunn’s scheme involved illegal healthcare kickbacks and fraudulent Medicare billings for treatments that amounted to patients “watching movies, playing bingo or engaging in other activities.”

Read more at: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/3-arrested-in-90-million-Medicare-fraud-scheme-2403896.php

Medtronic will pay $23.5 million to settle DOJ allegations of illegal kickbacks and wrongful use of cardiac implants, but will not admit any misconduct. DOJ civil division Tony West states, “Kickbacks, like those alleged here, distort sound medical judgments with financial incentives paid for by the taxpayers.” Medtronic’s Dr. Marshall Stanton states that Medtronic is happy to have the investigation behind them.

Read more at: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/12/12/medtronic-to-pay-23-5m-to-settle-kickback-claims/

Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) are questioning the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) ability to protect seniors and taxpayer dollars, when the organization has allowed dozens of convicted felons to enroll in Medicare and bill the government for services. “We believe that the lack of systematic editing, the refusal to implement enhanced oversight of high-risk providers and suppliers, and malleable policy positions are the wrong direction for the Medicare program,” the senators have stated.

Read more at: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/12/12/gvsd1212.htm

Medicare has given $1.25 billion for home-based health care services in Houston, Texas for over four years. But according to a Houston Chronicle investigation, nearly all the agencies that provide care for the elderly and disabled have violated state and federal regulations. Although declining to provide details due to ongoing investigations, Assistant U.S. Attorney Justo Mendez informed the Chronicle that some companies in Houston bill fraudulently for services not rendered.

Read more at: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Home-health-care-firms-breaking-rules-raking-in-2342534.php