The federal courts have been busy of late, especially when it comes to convicting home health owners and operators for wage-fixing, fraud, kickbacks and other illegal schemes.
One of the most recent examples is Akop Atoyan, the former co-owner of a Sacramento-based home health and hospice agency. He pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.
Atoyan did so through ANGL Health Care, Excel Hospice and Excel Home Healthcare. He has been sentenced to 25 months in prison and also been ordered to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Specifically, Atoyan and his wife – Liana Karapetyan – submitted thousands of false claims to Medicare and arranged millions of dollars worth of kickbacks for referrals, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Karapetyan already received 18 months in prison.
“In total, Atoyan, Karapetyan and others caused the agencies to submit over 8,000 claims to Medicare for the cost of home health care and hospice services,” the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement. “Based on those claims, Medicare paid the agencies approximately $31 million. Because the agencies obtained the beneficiary referrals by paying kickbacks, the agencies should not have received any Medicare reimbursement.”
In addition to the two main actors, others involved...
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