Physician assistant sentenced to 15 years in prison for Medicare fraud

A licensed physician assistant was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $85 million in restitutions for participating in a scheme in which he and his co-conspirators claimed $200 million in fraudulent Medicare billings.

 

Robert Bergman was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to make false statements relating to healthcare matters for his role in the fraud scheme by American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC) of Miami. ATC’s owners and 20 other individuals have all previously pleaded guilty or were found guilty at trial for the scheme.

 

According to authorities, Bergman and his co-conspirators at ATC submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. ATC claimed to operate partial hospitalization programs to treat patients with severe mental illness but the Medicare submissions were for patients who were ineligible for the treatment because “they were in neuro-vegetative states, in the late stages of diseases causing permanent cognitive memory loss, or had substance abuse issues and were living in halfway houses.”