Psychologists Charged in $25 Million Nursing Home Fraud Case

Emily Mongan at McKnight's Long-Term Care News reported that psychologists Beverly Stubblefield, PhD, and John Teal, PhD, have been charged in a nursing home fraud scheme for billing for psychological tests that were medically unnecessary or never provided. Between 2009 and 2015, their psychological services company allegedly violated the False Claims Act when they billed Medicare for services, and were charged with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and conspiracy to make false statements related to healthcare matters.

To violate the False Claims Act, a person must knowingly submit a false claim to the government. Having knowledge of false information is defined as (1) actual knowledge, (2) deliberate ignorance of the trust or falsity of the information, or (3) reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information.

The psychologists that were charged were found to have knowingly billed for unnecessary services and are now may be on the hook for $25 million in claims. The companies submitted claims to Medicare, in which they paid $17 million of those claims.

If you'd like to know more about the False Claims Act, please contact us. To read more about this please view the source article here.