A Pennsylvania doctor is being accused of billing $1.36 million in fraudulent claims.
A Pennsylvania doctor, Muhamad Aly Rifai, was indicted with four counts of healthcare fraud for fraudulently billing Medicare for services not provided, or not provided at the level which was claimed, the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced.
According to the indictment, the defendant was a licensed psychiatrist, that for several years, routinely and improperly billed Medicare for services which he did not provide to Medicare beneficiaries and nursing home patients.
The DOJ said his fraud included the following:
- Billing for treating dead beneficiaries
- Billing for treating the same patient at the same time at different nursing homes
- Billing for providing more than 24 hours’ worth of services to patients on a single day
The indictment further alleges that the defendant routinely billed for higher levels of care than he or his staff provided to nursing home patients. According to the Indictment, despite not having actually seen the patient, Rifai added a pre-printed stamp to medical progress notes to support billing for psychological and add-on services which were not provided by his staff.
From about January 2015 until October 2022, Rifai obtained Medicare payments of at least approximately $1.36 million based on fraudulent claims, the DOJ said. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.
Amanda Norris is the Director of Content for HealthLeaders.