Las Vegas Nurse Practitioner Pleads Guilty to Medicare Fraud Scheme

Strategic Insights -

Mary Huntly, a 67-year-old nurse practitioner from Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently bill Medicare for medically unnecessary treatments in exchange for illegal kickbacks. Huntly's actions resulted in losses of approximately $9.1 million to Medicare, with her wound care company submitting false claims totaling $14.3 million. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada, with the FBI, HHS-OIG, and DCIS leading the investigation.

Key Takeaways:

  • Mary Huntly pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks.
  • Huntly admitted to applying medically unnecessary allografts to Medicare beneficiaries from September 2022 through April 2024, resulting in $14.3 million in false claims and $9.1 million in Medicare payments.
  • The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Oliva of the District of Nevada, with the assistance of Trial Attorneys Monica Cooper and Shane Butland from the Justice Department's Criminal Division.
  • Huntly faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison at sentencing.
  • The case is part of the Justice Department's efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, which has charged over 5,800 defendants with collectively billing federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion since March 2007.
  • The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes.

Statistics:

  • $14,333,550: The approximate amount of false claims submitted by Huntly's wound care company to Medicare.
  • $9,105,563: The amount paid by Medicare on those false claims.
  • 2207: The number of days (approximately 2.6 years) during which Huntly's company submitted false claims to Medicare.
  • 58: The number of states with Medicare fraud cases prosecuted by the Department of Justice's Health Care Fraud Strike Force.

Sources:

  • United States Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada
  • United States Department of Justice's Criminal Division
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
  • Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG)
  • Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DCIS)
  • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)