A Miami-area doctor entered a guilty plea to Medicare fraud.
He played a part in a plan to bilk Medicare out of $25 million, U.S.prosecutors related. Jose Nunez, 63, who owns 2 medical offices, prescribed medically nonessential services, including home health and treatment prescriptions, care plans and medical licenses, from about Jan 2006 till about March 2009 in return for repayments and bribes, the Dep. of Justice, the FBI and the Dep. of Health and Human Services claimed. Nunez provided home health-care and treatment prescription referrals to ABC Home Medical Care Incorporated .
And Florida Home Medicare Suppliers Incorporated . In plea documents, he confessed he knew the Miami home health-care agencies billed Medicare for expensive physical treatment and home health-care services that were nonessential or never provided, UPI.com reported. He got rebates and bribes from nurses, patient recruiters, and the owners and operators of ABC and Florida Home Health, court documents say. Nunez confessed before U.S. District Judge Joan A.
Lenard in Miami to one charge of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. As an element of the scheme, plea documents show, he falsified patient files with outlines of non-existent medical problems for the Medicare beneficiaries, including hand shocks, unstable gait and poor vision. Sentencing is set for Dec. Five. Conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud carries a maximum jail sentence of ten years. Nunez also faces fines and forfeiture of any property or proceeds obtained from the scheme.
