On August 31, Rudra Sabaratnam, former CEO of the now-defunct City of Angels Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $4.1 million in restitution for his role in a Medicare and Medi-Cal billing scheme (US v. Sabaratnam).
Sabaratnam, along with former board chairman Robert Bourseau, paid an employee of a homeless recruitment center in the "Skid Row" district of Los Angeles to refer homeless patients to the City of Angels Medical Center for unnecessary inpatient treatment so that the facility could bill Medicare and Medi-Cal. Bourseau was sentenced earlier this year for his role.
Often reports of fraudulent Medicare billing involve physicians and other providers. This case serves as a reminder that corruption and abuse of power can occur at all levels of healthcare delivery -- from the provider to the administrator.
Source: BNA
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