On March 16, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced the sentencing of Jordan Thomas Broome to 66 months in prison. Mr. Broome was convicted of defrauding Medicare of $2 million by submitting thousands of fraudulent claims for durable medical equipment (DME).
Mr. Broome, a Texas resident, was owner and operator of Beach Medical Suppliers, LLC. Mr. Broome enrolled the company in Medicare in 2018. After enrollment, Mr. Broome worked with “a network of doctors who would ‘robo-sign’ prescriptions for patients the doctors had never met.” The company then, using personal information of Medicare beneficiaries, would mail the beneficiaries equipment such as knee and back braces that the beneficiaries neither needed nor wanted, and then would bill Medicare.
The scheme lasted for two years, and Beach Medical was paid around $2,153,200.44 in response to fraudulent billings involving over 2,000 Medicare beneficiaries.
This case is yet another example of continuing trends in Medicare fraud enforcement, particularly in the DME space. The OIG and the DOJ are utilizing significant resources to fight fraudulent practices in Federal health care programs and will continue to do so. Judgments and settlements in False Claims Act cases exceeded $2.2 billion for fiscal year 2022. The Federal government’s return on investment in pursuing health care fraud matters, combined with human nature, is indicative of why it is unlikely we will see a slow down in enforcement.