HealthSplash CEO Convicted in $1 Billion Medicare Fraud Conspiracy
A federal jury in South Florida has found the founder and owner of a health care software company guilty of participating in a Medicare fraud conspiracy involving over $1 billion in fraudulent claims. Brett Blackman, the CEO of HealthSplash, was convicted for his role in operating a platform that generated false doctors' orders and prescriptions to defraud Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs. Blackman and his co-conspirators targeted Medicare beneficiaries to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces and other items, arranging for fraudulent prescription orders to be signed by telemedicine doctors for billing Medicare.
Blackman's company, HealthSplash, acquired Power Mobility Doctor Rx (DMERx) in 2017, an internet-based platform used to create false and fraudulent doctors' orders for durable medical equipment and prescriptions. The scheme involved connecting pharmacies, medical equipment suppliers, and marketers with telemedicine companies that accepted illegal kickbacks and bribes in exchange for signed doctors' orders. Blackman and his co-conspirators received a cut for referrals, while the fraudulent orders falsely claimed that doctors had examined and treated Medicare beneficiaries without meaningful interaction or in some cases, any interaction at all.
Prosecutors stated that medical equipment suppliers and pharmacies involved in the scheme billed Medicare and other insurers for over $1 billion, resulting in payments of more than $450 million. Blackman was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and conspiracy to defraud the United States and make false statements in connection with health care matters. He faces up to 20 years in prison for the health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy conviction, five years for the kickback conspiracy conviction, and five years for the conspiracy to defraud the United States. Blackman's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 26.
The investigation into the case was conducted by HHS-OIG, the FBI, VA-OIG, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.