A Missouri business owner was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Thursday for his role in a health care scheme that submitted more than $7.5 million of fraudulent claims to Medicare.
Jamie McCoy, 42, of Jackson, Missouri, pleaded guilty in November 2020 to three felonies before being sentenced last week.
McCoy owned AE Wellness, a company that supplied durable medical equipment, including orthotic braces, to patients.
According to his plea agreement, McCoy paid third-party marketing firms to identify patients for AE Wellness. The marketing agencies ran television and internet advertisements for braces at no charge. When someone responded to an ad, an employee at a call center collected that individual’s name, address, primary care physician and other medical-related information. This data was then passed on to a telemedicine doctor.
The telemedicine doctor then “signed an order for medical equipment without evaluating or even communicating with the patient in some cases,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Source: Missouri Man Gets Prison Time for $7.5M Health Care Fraud / Riverfront Times