WASHINGTON – Tina Jackson-White, the owner and president of Family Home Medical Equipment and Supplies, LLC, pled guilty today to a federal charge of health care fraud stemming from a scheme in which the firm submitted and collected more than $200,000 in fraudulent Medicaid claims.
The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.; Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; Nicholas DiGiulio, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS - OIG) for the region including the District of Columbia, and Charles J. Willoughby, District of Columbia Inspector General.
Jackson-White, 51, of Bowie, Md., pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Honorable Amy Berman Jackson scheduled sentencing for July 9, 2013. Jackson-White faces a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison and financial penalties. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the parties have agreed that she faces a likely range of 24 to 30 months of incarceration and a fine of up to $50,000. As part of her plea agreement, Jackson-White has agreed to pay $212,893 in restitution to the District of Columbia Medicaid program.
According to a statement of offense, signed by the defendant as well as the government, Family Home Medical Equipment and Supplies provided durable medical equipment, or DME, such as adult incontinence supplies and other medical products to Medicaid beneficiaries in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Under Medicaid rules, the company would pay for the cost of the products supplied to beneficiaries and then submit claims for reimbursement.
Between January 2007 and December 2011, the company billed D.C. Medicaid for a total of $212,893 in fraudulent claims. The claims, knowingly submitted by the defendant, were for incontinence products, such as briefs, diapers and liners, which were not actually provided.
“Medicaid is designed to provide low-income families and people with disabilities with access to critical health care,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “Over five years, this business owner defrauded the Medicaid program by submitting bills for more than $200,000 in supplies that were never delivered. This prosecution illustrates our commitment to fighting the fraud that undermines the integrity of federal health care programs and diverts resources intended to serve our neighbors in need.”
“Instead of providing medical supplies to citizens in the District of Columbia and Maryland, Ms. Jackson-White intentionally manipulated our Medicaid system and pocketed the money from claims she submitted,” said Assistant Director in Charge Parlave. “Along with our partners at HHS-OIF and DC-OIG, the FBI will continue to pursue all such fraudulent schemes which damage the ability of health care providers, employers and patients to participate in a system free of fraud and dishonesty.”
“As demands on the D.C. Medicaid program increase even as resources remain scarce, fraud is less tolerable than ever”, said HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge DiGiulio. “Criminals such as Jackson-White will be brought to justice through aggressive investigation and prosecution.”
“This matter again represents how the District can work together with its federal colleagues in law enforcement to protect the interests of its citizenry and the public treasury,” said Inspector General Willoughby.
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