An Atlanta doctor who admitted filing more than $2 million in bogus Medicare and Medicaid claims, asserting he treated patients who turned out to be dead and others he never saw, was sentenced Wednesday to 1 year and 3 months in federal prison.
Dr. Robert Williams, 77, also was ordered to serve three years’ supervised release and to pay nearly $1 million in restitution -- $771,596 to Medicare, and $227,846 to Georgia Medicaid, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Williams pleaded guilty June 6 to federal health care fraud charges.
From about July 2007 through October 2009, the doctor contracted with a medical services company to provide group psychological therapy to elderly nursing home patients in the Atlanta area, authorities said.
During that time, more than 55,000 claims were submitted to Medicare using Williams’ provider number. Williams sought more than $2 million in reimbursement, and Medicare ultimately paid him more than $750,000. At the same time, more than 40,000 Medicaid claims using Williams’ provider number caused Georgia Medicaid to pay out more than $225,000.
An investigation by the FBI, Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Inspector General’s Office of the Georgia Department of Community Health showed, however, that in many cases the patients were dead, or were hospitalized at the time of service and therefore could not have received care at a nursing home, as Williams had claimed.
The case against Williams was prosecuted by assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Oldham and Senior Assistant Attorney General Nancy Allstrom of the Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
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