This report originally appeared in the February 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News
Terrence Berg, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, has announced that Rebecca Sharp-the former owner of a health care agency and one of eight defendants charged in a kickback scheme-has been sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment on the charge of conspiracy to violate the health care anti-kickback statute.
Berg's press release says that in addition to the 18-month sentence, Sharp will have three years of supervised release and will be required to pay $1,411,124.80 in restitution to the Medicare Trust Fund, as well as forfeiting over $268,000 including funds seized from her business bank accounts and proceeds from the sale of her cars.
The information given to the court through Sharp's plea agreements states that between 2002 and 2005, Sharp received over $1.1 million in kickbacks for referring Medicare beneficiaries to home health care agencies. Sharp stated she had her staff at the Continuing Senior Care Co, Inc. and Marketing & Assessment telephone senior citizens and offer medical services and other assistive services. A doctor employed by Sharp would then visit the senior citizen and prescribe home health care for those patients with Medicare coverage. Sharp then referred the individuals to home health care agencies in exchange for a $250 per-patient referral fee.
