Two nurse practitioners have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution for conspiring to defraud Medicare, the U.S. Justice Department announced July 30.
Janae Harper, NP, 34, of Kalispell, Mont., was sentenced to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay $4.3 million in restitution. Mark Hill, NP, 54, of Edinburg, N.D., received a nine-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay $5.1 million in restitution. The sentences were handed down after both defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.
The government alleged Ms. Harper worked with staffing and telemedicine companies to commit healthcare fraud from late 2017 through July 2019. She allegedly received money to sign brace orders that were prepared by telemarketers who had no medical training. She allegedly signed 7,673 brace orders, which resulted in $8.3 million billed to Medicare, according to the Justice Department.
The government alleged Mr. Hill also worked with telemedicine and staffing companies to commit fraud. He was allegedly paid to sign brace orders for Medicare beneficiaries from October 2017 through April 2019. He allegedly signed 7,097 brace orders, which resulted in $10.1 million billed to Medicare.
Ms. Harper was a licensed nurse practitioner in Montana, Missouri, Nevada, South Carolina and Wyoming and was enrolled as a medical provider with Medicare. Mr. Hill was a licensed nurse practitioner in Montana, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington, according to the Justice Department.