Prosecutors are accusing a Boynton Beach drug center CEO of purchasing patients through a kickback scheme, and have said it is one of its most significant volleys in the war against fraud in the drug rehabilitation industry. Over 120 arrests have been made in Palm Beach County alone on charges of patient-brokering. This will be the second trial related to the prosecution. More than 80 individuals have pleaded guilty to patient-brokering charges. The co-owner of the treatment facility center is facing 119 felony charges, likely one for each patient-brokering effort. If convicted, he could have up to 600 years in state prison.
Each charge is considered a third-degree felony and the co-owner is being charged individually for every instance of patient-brokering. In this article, we’ll discuss fraud and how it works.
Patient-brokering
I run a drug rehab facility. I pay sober homes to keep me in the loop when one of their wards falls off the wagon. They end up in my facility and I can charge their insurance for medical services. Hence, drug addicts are a cash crop if you’re a drug treatment and rehabilitation program. Gaining access to drug addicts improves your bottom line and your business.
According to State authorities, the scheme created a revolving door of relapses that were not of any actual benefit to the patient but helped the clinic rake in huge profits over a short period of time.
Florida law makes it illegal to offer anyone money for referrals, offer kickbacks, or any other type of benefit.
The scheme
According to the prosecution, the recovery center sent a $500 payment to sober homes each time they referred one of their residents to the center. They also made kickbacks by referring urine testing to allies. Since the recidivism rate among addicts is incredibly high, the sober homes could force the resident into a treatment facility each time they had relapse. The recovery center could bill their government insurance for as much as they pleased, and taxpayers footed the bill for their revolving door approach to addiction treatment. Meanwhile, they were getting kickbacks from urine testing centers for using their labs.
The scheme is illegal because a drug treatment center has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their patients, as does a sober home have a duty to ensure the best interests of their residents. In this case, the best interests of the patients were not considered at all. Instead, raiding public insurance for max profit was their end game all along.
Jury selection begins next week.
Talk to a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Attorney
If you are involved in a patient-brokering scheme to funnel patients from group homes to inpatient treatment facilities on a revolving door basis, then you need an attorney. Call the West Palm Beach criminal attorneys at The Skier Law Firm, P.A. today to schedule an appointment to discuss your situation in more detail.
Resource:
sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-ne-james-kigar-trial-preview-20210801-ugdbq6hxrjbpvpqx63g4nbmbzy-story.html