Industry Note:
Home Care Fraudster Earns Decade Jail Term
Published on Thu Oct 25, 2012
A Miami HHA owner has received a 10-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to Medicare fraud. Willsand Home Health Inc. owner Eulises Escalona paid kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries to become patients and receive medically unnecessary services, according to a release from the Department of Justice. Escalona also paid kickbacks to patient recruiters and to doctors who signed fraudulent prescriptions and plans of care (POCs), and falsified documentation. Escalona submitted $42 million in false claims and received about $27 million in Medicare reimbursement.The federal judge also ordered Escalona to pay $26.5 million in restitution, the Justice Depart-ment says.