Health care providers defrauded Medicaid to the tune of $29 million dollars by coordinating with a day care center for mentally ill adults to steal patient information, the Washington Examiner reports.
Abdul Malik Al-Jumail and his daughter Jamella Al-Jumail created a series of fake health companies, and then collaborated closely with Felicar Williams, 51, who ran the day care center. Felicar would steal patient information, the Jumails would file false claims, and then provide kickbacks to Felicar. Many complex procedures for mental health were billed that were simply never provided.
Sometimes the Jumails would even fabricate entire medical records if necessary to gain reimbursement, showing how patients desperately needed treatment, and how their companies provided care. All three individuals involved are now in prison. The actual sentencing, however, hasn’t yet been scheduled. Two others, Mohammed Sadiq and Philandis Thomas, are charged in the indictment and scheduled for trial later this month. Another individual remains on the loose.
A 61-year-old psychiatrist, Carey Vigor, was also named in the indictment, but was later acquitted by the jury.
As the investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general (HHS-OIG) deepened and Malik Al-Jumail was promptly arrested, his daughter panicked and instructed an employee to burn the falsified medical records. In total, they siphoned off $29 million dollars in the scam.
However, since its inception in 2007, the HHS-OIG has worked closely with the Department of Justice and the FBI, among others. These agencies together work in the Medicare Fraud Task Force, and together, they have recuperated approximately $14.9 billion dollars. The task force has charged almost 2,000 individuals and operates in 9 cities across the United States.
With this recent case in mind, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are joining with the HHS-OIG to further crackdown on fraud.
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