A California physician was sentenced to 37 months in prison for his role in a $2.8 million Medicare fraud scheme.
John Thropay, MD, 75, of Arcadia, was the medical director of multiple hospice companies, including Blue Sky Hospice in Van Nuys, Calif., according to an Aug. 27 Justice Department news release. From October 2024 to March 2016, Dr. Thropay fraudulently certified Blue Sky Medicare patients as having terminal illnesses that the patients did not have so that the company could bill Medicare for hospice services.
In 2015, he was listed as the attending provider for more hospice claims paid by Medicare than any other provider in the U.S., according to the release.
He was convicted in February of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud.