Home Health & Hospice Week
Physician Sentenced To 5 Years For Home Care Fraud
A Houston physician has drawn a five-year prison sentence for falsifying home health plans of care, says the Department of Justice. In addition to a 63-month prison sentence, Ben Echols has received three years supervised release and nust pay $2.9 million in restitution.
Echols was convicted of Medicare fraud in a December trial (see Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXI, No. 44-45). A jury found him guilty of signing plans of care for Medicare beneficiaries so that fraudulent claims could be billed by home care companies Family Healthcare Group Inc. and Houston Compassion-ate Care. “Echols signed plans of care for Medicare beneficiaries who were not under his care and about whose conditions he had no knowledge,” the DOJ says in the release.
Home Health & Hospice Week
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