A Washington physician has been charged in a $14 million fraudulent medical supply scheme that targeted Medicare and Tricare members in five states, the Justice Department said Dec. 4.
An unnamed company allegedly employed telemarketers to contact Tricare and Medicare beneficiaries in Washington and four other states, and that information was then used to create fake medical records and orders. The Justice Department charged Thomas Webster, MD, 50, with signing fraudulent orders for medical supplies, which were sold to durable medical equipment companies that falsely billed Medicare and Tricare.
Between May 2021 and September 2023, Medicare and Tricare paid more than $13.7 million for fraudulently ordered medical supplies from Dr. Webster's referrals, the Justice Department said.
The beneficiaries included people who did not need durable medical equipment, those who were ineligible for most types of illness or injury under Medicare, and people "who lacked the limb for which defendant placed the DME order because it had been previously amputated."
Dr. Webster is charged with one count of medical fraud after allegedly pocketing $839,565 from Medicare and Tricare for fraudulent telemedicine visits.