Miami and Medicare fraud. The two go hand-in-hand like a baby in a basket.
So it probably wasn’t the brightest idea for Lawrence Duran and Marianella Valera to set up a company called American Therapeutic to run a chain of seven mental health clinics in South Florida and Orlando that duped Medicare into paying out $87 million during the past decade.
It probably didn’t help that, in order to perpetuate their fraud against U.S. taxpayers, they held “charting parties” — gatherings where “they would falsify the medical records of beneficiaries to make it look like they needed therapy when they actually didn’t,” according to the Miami Herald.
In the past week, both have been given huge prison sentences — 50 years for Lawrence Duran and 35 years for mental health counselor Marianelle Valera, who will be looking to be released from prison when she’s 75 years old.
Crime doesn’t pay, not even in mental health.
Before posting, please read our blog moderation guidelines. The comments below begin with the oldest comments first. Click on the last comments page to jump to the most recent comments.
Before posting, please read our blog moderation guidelines.
Post a Comment:
Copyright © 1995-2013 Psych Central. All rights reserved.
Site last updated: 18 Jun 2013
|
How much of this money can and is being recovered. This infuriates me; while so many of us go without needed care health and mental health care, these two and their accomplices (pseudo-patients, etc.) line their pockets with our taxes. Will those who went along with scheme also be prosecuted? I hope so – they too are guilty.
Great, more poster children in calling for the demise of mental health care. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see bad things happen to bad people, but why advertise this example when there are more than enough in somatic care matters. Besides, you know what is the real fraud? Insurers denying care options and minimizing visits for legitimate mental health care needs. Think we’ll see this in any headlines here or in the media? Don’t hold your breath waiting.
Fraud is too often tolerated and often punished with a simple slap on the wrist. I’m glad to see that a harsh punishment was dished out. if only they would do the same for those jokers on wall street.
Lock the *sswipes up and throw away the key!. Let them suffer in jail.
Twenty percent of all health care cost is fraud from hospitals and doctors over-billing to people getting kickback for tests and procedures never performed and everything in between.