Home Health & Hospice Week

DME supplier hit hard for lymphedema pump, pressure mattress billing.

A steep jail term for one supplier has come out of the Lone Star State, and it's not for power wheelchair fraud.

Faking diagnoses to make patients appear eligible for pricey durable medical equipment has exacted a costly toll on Jacqueline Richardson, operator of Cedar Park Home Health and Medical Equipment Inc. and JOR Health Management.

U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice Aug. 15 slapped Richardson with a 10-year prison term after a jury convicted her of 24 counts of health care fraud. According to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, Jacqueline Richardson and her husband Troy Richardson billed Medicare and Medicaid for equipment they never supplied and also trumped up patient diagnoses to bill for high-ticket items - including $5,000 lymphedema pumps and $795 per month alternating pressure mattresses.

Troy Richardson - who owned and operated Cedar Park and JOR with his wife - had previously pleaded guilty in the case and cooperated with investigators. He was sentenced in June to a year and a day in prison. In addition to the prison terms, the pair was ordered to return about $385,000 to the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Both of the Richardson's companies were based in Cedar Park, TX. The pair operated Cedar Park Home Health from 1992 to 1997, and began billing Medicare and Medicaid through JOR Health Management thereafter.