A Florida woman, Elizabeth Hernandez, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for orchestrating a $192 million fraudulent scheme involving medically unnecessary orthotic braces and genetic testing for Medicare beneficiaries.
Hernandez falsified orders, billed Medicare for unperformed telemedicine visits, and misappropriated approximately $1.6 million for personal expenses.
She was found guilty on multiple counts related to health care fraud and acted alone in the scheme. (Trending: Trump Announces Heartbreaking Melania-Related Health Update)
The Department of Justice wrote, “According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Elizabeth Hernandez, 45, of Miami, signed thousands of orders for medically unnecessary orthotic braces and genetic testing for Medicare beneficiaries she never spoke to, examined, or treated.”
“As part of the scheme, telemarketing companies would contact Medicare beneficiaries to convince them to accept orthotic braces and genetic tests and would then send pre-filled orders for these products to Hernandez, who signed them, attesting that she had examined or treated the patients,” continued the DOJ.
“However, she had never spoken with many of the patients, and she often had others, including non-licensed individuals, sign her name to fraudulent orders,” wrote the agency.
“Hernandez also falsified information in the orders about beneficiaries’ symptoms and injuries,” added the DOJ.
“During the period of the conspiracy, Hernandez ordered more cancer genetic tests for Medicare beneficiaries than any other provider in the nation,” the agency explained.
“In 2020, when Medicare expanded its telemedicine coverage in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hernandez also billed Medicare for thousands of telemedicine visits she never performed, routinely billing over 24 hours of telemedicine in a single day,” the department continued.
“Hernandez personally pocketed approximately $1.6 million in the scheme, which she used to purchase expensive cars, jewelry, home renovations, and travel,” concluded the DOJ.
The case reflects the rising prevalence of health care fraud, with the DOJ charging over 5,400 defendants for collectively billing $27 billion since March 2007.
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