A federal jury has convicted Dr. John Thropay, a hospice medical director, on charges of health care fraud in a $2.8 million scheme.
Thropay was the medical director of several hospice companies, including Blue Sky Hospice, based in Van Nuys, California. He was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud.
“Thropay fraudulently certified Medicare patients of Blue Sky as having terminal illnesses that the patients did not have so that Blue Sky Hospice could bill Medicare for hospice services,” a statement by the U.S. Justice Department indicated. “In 2015, Thropay was listed as an attending provider for more hospice claims paid by Medicare than any other provider in the nation.”
The former medical director will be sentenced on May 28. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years incarceration on each count.
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General investigated the case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant Deputy Chief Niall M. O’Donnell and Trial Attorney Eric C. Schmale from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Fraud Section.
The Fraud Section is spearheading the Justice Department’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, which operates in 27 federal districts. Since March 2007, the program has resulted in criminal charges against more than 5,400 defendants who collectively committed $27 billion in health care fraud.
