Home Health & Hospice Week

HHA owners to testify in high-profile home care fraud trial in Texas.

Brace for the home care industry to be characterized as riddled with fraud in one of the biggest Medicare fraud trials targeting home care fraud.

On March 9, federal prosecutors in Dallas began the trial of Dr. Jacques Roy, who in 2012 was charged, along with the owners of Apple of Your Eye Healthcare Services Inc., Ultimate Care Home Health Services Inc., and Charry Home Care Services Inc., with a massive $375 million home care fraud scheme. Payments went back and forth between Roy and the HHAs for patients that didn’t really need home care services (see Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXI, No. 9). At the same time, Medicare suspended payments for 78 HHAs with a large proportion of patients certified by Roy and his medical practice.

Roy has been in federal custody since 2012, since he was deemed a flight risk due to offshore bank accounts and false identification papers found at his home. Prosecutors intend to call about 70 witnesses, including Roy’s son who will testify how he helped his father cover up his crimes, reports The Dallas Morning News. Three HHA owners who have pleaded guilty in the scheme are also expected to testify. The trial is expected to last at least a month, the newspaper says.