The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced On February 1, an owner and operator of Arbor Homecare Services LLC and a Home Health Agency nurse were charged with at least $ 100 million for their roles in a fraud program against MassHealth and Medicare. The Massachusetts agency allegedly routinely billed government programs for services that were not performed, medically unnecessary, or unapproved. The program is said to have reached out to vulnerable patients, including those who are poor, disabled, or have depression or addiction.
The agency also reportedly paid setbacks for patient referrals and created bogus employment with patients’ family members to provide unneeded home health services. The accused registered general practitioner was charged with billing qualified nursing visits that she did not offer and paying a patient to stay with the agency.
Proceeds from the program, which ran between January 2013 and January 2017, were reportedly used to buy several homes and a Maserati, and to open numerous financial accounts. A civil lawsuit is to forfeit five properties and 40 financial accounts for the United States. The charges included health fraud and conspiracy charges, and the owner-operator was also charged with money laundering.
