U.S. sentences 14 to combined 74 years in prison for healthcare fraud

[March 20, 2021]    NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Friday sentenced 14 defendants to a total of more than 74 years in prison for steering patients to a defunct hospital in Texas in a $200 million kickback scheme.

Defendants in the case disguised kickbacks as "consulting fees" calculated as a percentage of surgeries each doctor referred to the defunct hospital, the Forest Park Medical Center, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

The defendants have also been ordered to pay $82.9 million in restitution.

Tens of billions of dollars are estimated to be lost in the United States through healthcare fraud each year. The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association estimated that as much as $300 billion, or 10% of total annual health outlay in the United States, is stolen through fraudulent activity each year, compounding the challenges of high healthcare costs.

(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Editing by William Mallard)

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