{"id":55536,"date":"2024-02-16T21:20:07","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T05:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536"},"modified":"2024-02-16T21:20:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-17T05:20:07","slug":"calif-doctor-convicted-for-role-in-a-scheme-to-defraud-medicare-by-billing-2-8-million-for-hospice-services-not-needed-by-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536","title":{"rendered":"Calif. Doctor Convicted for Role in a Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Billing $2.8 Million for Hospice Services Not Needed by Patients"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

\"\"A federal jury convicted a California man yesterday for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that patients did not need, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Dr. John Thropay, 74, of Arcadia, was the medical director of several hospice companies, including Blue Sky Hospice Inc. in Van Nuys, California.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 28. He faces up to 10 years in prison on each count.<\/span><\/p>\n

From October 2014 to March 2016, Thropay fraudulently certified Medicare patients of Blue Sky as having terminal illnesses that the patients did not have so that Blue Sky Hospice could bill Medicare for hospice services. <\/span><\/p>\n

In 2015, Thropay was listed as an attending provider for more hospice claims paid by Medicare than any other provider nationwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

The jury convicted Thropay of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of fraud. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"FBI<\/p>\n

He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 28 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the FBI investigated the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

Assistant Deputy Chief Niall M. O\u2019Donnell and Trial Attorney Eric C. Schmale of the Criminal Division\u2019s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division\u2019s efforts to combat healthcare fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. <\/span><\/p>\n

Since March 2007, the program, comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov\/criminal-fraud\/health-care-fraud-unit<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal jury convicted a California man yesterday for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that patients did not need, officials stated. According…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fbi","category-u-s-department-of-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nCalif. Doctor Convicted for Role in a Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Billing $2.8 Million for Hospice Services Not Needed by Patients<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A federal jury convicted a California man yesterday for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Calif. Doctor Convicted for Role in a Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Billing $2.8 Million for Hospice Services Not Needed by Patients\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A federal jury convicted a California man yesterday for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-17T05:20:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/medical_1708146885.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"Calif. Doctor Convicted for Role in a Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Billing $2.8 Million for Hospice Services Not Needed by Patients\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-17T05:20:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536\"},\"wordCount\":342,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/medical_1708146885.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"FBI\",\"U.S. Department of Justice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536\",\"name\":\"Calif. Doctor Convicted for Role in a Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Billing $2.8 Million for Hospice Services Not Needed by Patients\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/medical_1708146885.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-17T05:20:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"A federal jury convicted a California man yesterday for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=55536#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/medical_1708146885.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/medical_1708146885.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"description\":\""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"width\":675,\"height\":231,\"caption\":\"American Justice Notebook\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\",\"name\":\"Raul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Raul\"},\"description\":\"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Calif. Doctor Convicted for Role in a Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Billing $2.8 Million for Hospice Services Not Needed by Patients","description":"A federal jury convicted a California man yesterday for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Calif. Doctor Convicted for Role in a Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Billing $2.8 Million for Hospice Services Not Needed by Patients","og_description":"A federal jury convicted a California man yesterday for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that","og_url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536","og_site_name":"American Justice Notebook","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook","article_published_time":"2024-02-17T05:20:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/medical_1708146885.jpg","width":1,"height":1,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Raul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Raul","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536"},"author":{"name":"Raul","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0"},"headline":"Calif. Doctor Convicted for Role in a Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Billing $2.8 Million for Hospice Services Not Needed by Patients","datePublished":"2024-02-17T05:20:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536"},"wordCount":342,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/medical_1708146885.jpg","articleSection":["FBI","U.S. Department of Justice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536","name":"Calif. Doctor Convicted for Role in a Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Billing $2.8 Million for Hospice Services Not Needed by Patients","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/medical_1708146885.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-17T05:20:07+00:00","description":"A federal jury convicted a California man yesterday for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=55536#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/medical_1708146885.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/medical_1708146885.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","name":"American Justice Notebook","description":""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization","name":"American Justice Notebook","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","width":675,"height":231,"caption":"American Justice Notebook"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0","name":"Raul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","caption":"Raul"},"description":"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.","sameAs":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55536"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55539,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55536\/revisions\/55539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}