Home Health & Hospice Week

A home health nurse faces up to 10 years in a prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to Medicare fraud.

Detroit-area resident Christopher Collins recruited patients for Patient Choice Home Healthcare Inc. and owner Muhammad Shahab by offering them cash as a kickback, says the U.S.

Department of Justice in a release. Patient Choice then billed Medicare for unperformed or medically unnecessary physical therapy for the recruited beneficiaries.

With Shahab's help, Collins then established All American Home Care Inc. and became sole owner of the agency in 2009. All American submitted the same types of fraudulent PT-based claims, prosecutors say.

Collins admitted to causing nearly $7 million in false claims to be submitted to Medicare between August 2007 and October 2009, the DOJ says in the release.

The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Strike Force operations have obtained indictments of 560 individuals who have false claimed about $1.2 billion in Medicare funds, the release notes.