Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert
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A Florida physician is the latest practitioner to plead guilty as part of the government's smackdown on fraudulent Medicare billing. As part of a $25 million fraud scheme allegedly perpetrated by ABC Home Health and Florida Home Health Care Providers Inc. in Miami, physician Jose Nunez pled guilty last week to prescribing medically unnecessary services, including home health and therapy, care plans and medical certifications, from January 2006 until March 2009, in exchange for kickbacks and bribes. "Nunez admitted that he knew co-conspirators at ABC and Florida Home Health operated the agencies in order to bill the Medicare program for expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were medically unnecessary and/or were never provided," the Department of Justice says in a release. Nunez allegedly falsified patient records with nonexistent symptoms to make the patients appear homebound and in need of insulin injections, says the release from the DOJ, FBI and the OIG. Nunez is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 5. The investigation was part of the HEAT program's Medicare Strike Force operation.
Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert
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