Home healthcare scheme totals $1.1 million in kickbacks
Healthcare Auditing Weekly, December 30, 2008
Eight owners and employees of several Michigan home healthcare agencies were indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit on charges of participating in a scheme to solicit and pay kickbacks in exchange for patients, Acting United States Attorney Terrence Berg announced recently.
According to a U.S. Department of Justice press release, Rebecca Sharp of Ypsilanti led the scheme, obtaining potential home health patients by instructing her staff at Continuing Senior Care Co, Inc. and Marketing & Assessment to call senior citizens and offer medical services and chore workers. After telling the patients they received their names from Medicare, employees then collected the patients’ Medicare information. A doctor employed by Sharp then visited the patient, prescribing home healthcare even if it was unnecessary. Sharp then referred the individuals to home healthcare agencies in exchange for a $250 fee.
In the indictment, Sharp claimed she could refer 80 patient names and Medicare numbers per week to a home healthcare agency. Her scheme resulted in over $1.1 million in kickbacks.
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