Department of Justice Uses Travel Act to Prosecute Health Care Fraud
“In April 2019, a federal jury found seven defendants associated with the Forest Park Medical Center (FPMC) in Dallas, Texas guilty on charges of conspiring to pay or receive health care bribes. The defendants in United States v. Beauchamp were convicted of collecting over $200 million dollars in a kickback scheme under which doctors were paid to refer patients to FPMC,” reports Alan J. Bozer and Joshua Glasgow in Phillips Lytle’s articles.
“Prosecution of this case was in many ways unsurprising. In 2018 alone, the federal government prosecuted more than 30 health care fraud cases yielding over $2.5 billion dollars in settlements and fines. The Beauchamp case is notable, however, because of the particular charges filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).”
“In addition to alleging violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute … the government charged several defendants with violating the Travel Act of 1961 … an anti-racketeering statute that is rarely used in health care fraud cases. This novel use of the Travel Act may foreshadow a new government enforcement strategy that could broaden the scope of liability for uninformed physicians and health care administrators across the United States.”
