A former Georgia insurance commissioner is facing federal conspiracy charges related to an alleged healthcare fraud scheme, Fox affiliate WAGA reported May 20.
John Oxendine is facing conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering charges, according to the report.
Mr. Oxendine was working as a private attorney when he allegedly conspired to provide fraudulent insurance claims to Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare and others for medically unnecessary testing, according to the report.
Federal prosecutors allege physicians associated with the ENT practice of Jeffrey Gallups, MD, were pressured to order medically unnecessary tests from a Texas-based testing lab called the Lab Company, according to the report.
The Lab Company allegedly paid kickbacks to Dr. Gallups through Mr. Oxendine, who kept part of the money and used part to pay debts to the physician, according to the report.
The alleged scheme took place between September 2015 and June 2017, according to the indictment. The Lab Company allegedly submitted more than $2.5 million in claims for the fraudulent tests. The insurance companies paid out more than $600,000 of those claims.