HOUSTON – A Texas physician was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday for a $16 million Medicare fraud scheme, federal officials said.
Hamilton was convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive health care kickbacks, and two counts of false statements relating to health care matters in October 2019.
Members of the conspiracy paid the patients to receive the home health care services, which were often medically unnecessary, not provided, or both, the news release said.
Hamilton typically would not release the home health care paperwork until the home health care companies or their marketers paid her the kickback, authorities said, citing evidence from the case.
Federal authorities said the scheme resulted in approximately millions in false and fraudulent claims for home-health services to Medicare and in Hamilton receiving over $300,000 in kickbacks.