Medicare/Medicaid Fraud Lands Chimaroke Echenwune a 30-Year Prison Sentence

In the worst style of committing Medicare/Medicaid fraud, Houston, TX-based Chimaroke Schenwune, who ran an ambulance company, Diamex EMS, with his wife scammed mentally handicapped patients by transporting them to daycare facilities instead of hospitals.

Transport to daycare facilities is not covered by Medicare or Medicaid, but transport to hospitals is. The result is more than $1.3 million in false claims to Medicare and Medicaid according to a press release from the Texas attorney general’s office.

The case took two years to bring Schenwune to justice with a 30-year prison sentence.

The investigation was initiated by a contractor specializing in medical claims audits after the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit found evidence of fraudulent behavior in 2014.

“Scamming the health care system is endemic and drives up the cost of health care, eliminating fraud would be a giant step toward achieving Congress’ goal of affordability,” says John Benson, Verisys CEO.

“It would require massive changes to existing flawed systems and challenging the CMS contractors whose very expensive systems just add more cost by engaging in the pay and chase game,” John Benson continues, “We need to have an honest discussion about prevention and it starts with a solid gatekeeping and monitoring strategy, something that Verisys delivers in the commercial sector today. The government needs to stop spending money on magic bullets and start applying common sense solutions.”

“ACA has yet to deliver on the promise of paying for itself by preventing fraud,” comments John Benson, “and whatever replaces it is not going to eliminate continuing huge losses attributed to system flaws that allow for massive dollars lost to waste, abuse and fraud in the health care system. Verisys has the knowledge and experience to deliver solutions that prevent fraud and limit its impact by implementing gatekeeping and monitoring solutions as opposed to pay and chase.”

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-area-Medicare-fraudster-sentenced-to-30-10617223.php
Learn more about how Verisys can assist your HCOs in meeting all government and regulatory standards.

Written by Verisys Verisys transforms provider data, workforce data, and relationship management. Healthcare, life science, and background screening organizations rely on our comprehensive solutions to discover their true potential. Visit verisys.com to learn how we turn problems into power. Secure, configurable, and proven solutions Accurate, compliant, and complete information NCQA, URAC, and ISO accreditations/certifications Follow us on LinkedIn