A home health agency patient recruiter
Published on Tue Oct 26, 2010
A home health agency patient recruiter in Houston has pled guilty in a $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme. Cynthia Garza-Williams was a recruiter for Family Healthcare Group in Houston, says the Department of Justice and HHS Office of Inspector General in a release. Garza-Williams admitted in federal court to recruiting Medicare beneficiaries so Family Healthcare could file Medicare claims for unnecessary or never-provided home care services. "Garza-Williams admitted that on a monthly basis she gave cash-filled envelopes to a medical doctor," the DOJ and OIG say. "In return, the medical doctor signed plans of care for home health care services that were not medically necessary." Garza-Williams is scheduled for sentencing next April, the DOJ says. She could face up to 10 years in prison.