Fla. man sentenced to 10 years for elaborate health care fraud

A Florida man has been sentenced in Pittsburgh to 10 years in prison and ordered to return $97 million, along with an additional $30 million, for committing health care fraud, the United States Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.

Daniel Hurt, 59, of Fort Lauderdale, was originally indicted in Florida, but the case was moved to the Western District of Pennsylvania for sentencing by District Judge W. Scott Hardy. He participated in three different health care and bribery schemes involving multiple health care providers and insurance firms, according to information presented to the court.

Hurt admitted to billing health care providers — including TRICARE and CHAMPVA — and insurance firms for medications that were not needed, during his plea hearing, according to a release. He would work with patients to get them the most expensive prescriptions possible, giving him a large reimbursement.

The defendant admitted to collecting more than $4.2 million from these actions during his plea hearing. This maneuver lost TRICARE $18 million and CHAMPVA more than $450,000, according to the release.

Hurt also confessed to being part of a plan in 2018 involving at-home cancer genomic testing, which tests DNA for risks of cancer, giving him unlawful payments. These tests were sent to Ellwood City Medical Center in Lawrence County.

The defendant was able to have medical center staff transfer funds from the facility’s account to bank accounts he controlled, according to the release. He admitted to using these funds to pay off marketers, among others, in exchange for getting specimens for the tests, covering it up by entering false contracts and business arrangements.

This plot lost Medicare more than $25 million. Hurt disclosed that he used $ 3 million of the funds to buy a yacht, and he was ordered to forfeit money from its sale.

In a third case originating in New Jersey, Hurt confessed to owning labs that performed different tests, obtaining referrals from doctors through bribes. The labs submitted claims to Medicare, which reimbursed the labs for the tests without knowing the illegal actions.

The defendant received $26.9 million out of $53.3 million taken from Medicare.