There are many reasons why people aspire to retire in the state of Florida. Among the most popular are the facts that Floridians enjoy warm and sunny weather on a regular basis. Add that to the wonderful beaches, the palm trees and, of course, the many friendly citizens, and you have a place to live that is truly deserving of its moniker: the Sunshine State.
We’ve made it no secret that our team of clinical experts, here at Allegiant Experts, is made up of many proud Floridians. Based in Windermere, our team enjoys many of Florida’s aspects without the hustle and bustle of big city life. We do, however, share the concerns of so many other Floridians when troubling occurrences take place in our state’s larger towns. A recent story about Miami-Dade county-based assisted living facility owners has us particularly concerned.
As the Southern District of Florida branch of United States Department of Justice reported last week, no less than nine individuals were sentenced to prison sentences for receiving health care kickbacks. Before commenting on the story any further, allow us to express our extreme disappointment with the very notion of taking advantage of the elderly. As we mentioned off the top of this week’s blog, many members of our older generation enjoy Florida as their home.
And as we alluded to, many of these older individuals aren’t necessarily born-Floridians. People come from all over the country to retire in Florida. In fact, many of our Canadian friends who refer to themselves as “snowbirds” leave their cold and blistering winters to spend those months in our warm and sunny state. A great number of them end up retiring here as well. So when the likes of these nine living facility owners take advantage of our state’s seniors, it’s particularly displeasing – to say the least.
As the report explains, all nine defendants pled guilty to receipt of kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program. A tenth also pled guilty but escaped with a sentence of home confinement instead of prison.
“According to court documents, these assisted living facility owners conspired with the former owner of Florida Pharmacy to receive kickbacks and bribes in exchange for referring beneficiaries living in their facilities for prescription medication and durable medical equipment paid for by Medicare and Medicaid,” explains the report, “The assisted living facility owners participated in the fraudulent scheme, in violation of their Medicaid provider agreement as well as federal and state anti-kickback rules and regulations.”
Added to the federal convictions of all ten perpetrators was an order for each of them to serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution. They all are also subject to forfeiture judgments.
At Allegiant Experts, we’re committed to helping our great state of Florida significantly diminish its share of health care fraud incidents. If you’re an attorney trying a health care fraud case, please don’t hesitate to contact us in order to learn more about how our team of clinical experts can help you. Give us a call at 407-217-5831 or email us at info@allegiantexperts.com.