Big news out of the San Francisco Bay Area Thursday as federal prosecutors charged Amity Home Health Care and Advent Care with paying doctors over $8 million in kickbacks while defrauding Medicare for $115 million.
The FBI alleges that the two companies, both operated by Ridhima Singh, paid doctors in the form of NBA basketball tickets, designer handbags, and envelopes of cash for referring patients. Craig Fair, FBI Deputy Special Agent stated “These doctors and healthcare professionals sold patients like commodities, placing their own financial gains over the wellbeing of their patients and betraying the basic principles of their profession”.
If convicted of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute, the 28 doctors charged along with Singh face a maximum sentence of 10 years and prison and a maximum $100,000 fine. Singh also faces steeper penalties due to facing additional charges.
Even healthcare organizations acting in good faith can sometimes run into issues with the Anti-Kickback Statute, so it’s always important to document your physician contract compliance. Just remember that paying for referrals is always illegal and that the DOJ is focused on pursuing individual accountability for executives and physicians in these illegal kickback schemes in addition to levying fines on the organizations.
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