A federal jury in Maryland has convicted a laboratory owner of fraudulently billing Medicare more than $18 million for expensive respiratory tests that nursing-home residents did not need, physicians did not order and, in many cases, were never performed, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday, October 20.
Patrick Britton-Harr, 42, of Annapolis, was found guilty of five counts of health care fraud and one count of transactional money laundering, according to the Justice Department. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set, and the judge will determine the sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines and other factors.
Trial evidence showed that in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Britton-Harr offered COVID-19 testing to nursing homes nationwide through his company, Provista Health. After other laboratories ran the COVID-19 tests, he billed Medicare for separate respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) tests — which screen for more than 30 respiratory pathogens — purportedly performed at a laboratory he owned in Arizona. Prosecutors said physicians had not ordered the tests, and that some were billed for residents who had already died.
Prosecutors said Britton-Harr directed employees — including a family member and high-school and college-aged interns — to bill Medicare for an RPP test each time a COVID-19 test was performed, and that billing continued after the Arizona laboratory had closed, staff were barred from working there, and the equipment needed for the tests was gone, WBFF reported.
The Justice Department said the proceeds funded personal spending, including a Porsche 911 bought for $112,500 in December 2020 and $25,000 monthly mortgage payments on an Annapolis waterfront home. U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes said Britton-Harr's decision to exploit elderly nursing-home residents and inexperienced interns during a global pandemic was 'unconscionable.' FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul noted Britton-Harr had previously been convicted of investment fraud in a separate scheme. The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the FBI.
Medicare is the federal health programme most older Americans — including many Punjabi diaspora parents and grandparents — rely on. This was a jury conviction, not just a charge: the government proved billing for tests that were not ordered and, in many cases, never performed, including for residents who had died.
What is solid
- A federal jury convicted Patrick Britton-Harr on five counts of health care fraud and one count of transactional money laundering — U.S. Department of Justice, District of Maryland and Office of Public Affairs.
- Medicare was billed $18.7 million over about six months and paid more than $7.2 million — Justice Department, as reported at trial.
What is only claimed
- The final sentence is not yet known: each count carries a maximum of 10 years, but the actual sentence will be set by the judge under the sentencing guidelines at a hearing that has not been scheduled.