Medicare to recoup $4 million from cardiologist's estate

Federal prosecutors have recovered more than $4 million worth of property from the estate of a deceased Mountain Home cardiologist who overbilled Medicare by more than $14 million.

Stacey Johnson was a state-licensed cardiologist from 1980-2009. Johnson died in March 2013.

According to a news release from U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge, Johnson operated the Physicians' Medical Center of the Ozarks, a medical practice and outpatient surgical center, and Physicians' Surgical Center of the Ozarks, an outpatient surgical center. Both were located in Mountain Home.

According to the affidavit filed with the civil forfeiture, in 2006 an investigation into Johnson's practice began after it was discovered that he had a significant increase in billings to Medicare from 2001 through 2006 and an increase in computerized tomography scans from 2004 to 2005.

The investigation determined Johnson had ordered numerous unnecessary or duplicate tests for his patients and falsely billed the Medicare and Tricare programs, according to the news release. Tricare is a health care program that serves uniformed service members, retirees and their families.

The property was recovered after prosecutors filed a claim with the probate division of Baxter County Circuit Court regarding Johnson's estate and a civil forfeiture action in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Both actions were filed in September.

On Monday, the probate court entered an order directing that $3.48 million of the assets of the estate will go to the United States.

According to a petition filed by his estate last year in the probate court, Johnson's estate was valued around $3.5 million in real and personal property.

The U.S. attorney's office filed a claim against the estate on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Medicare overpayment in the amount of $14,716,191.

Under the terms of Monday's order by Baxter County Circuit Judge Gary Isbell, the United States will be paid the proceeds of a $2.5 million promissory note that Freeman Holdings of Arkansas LLC owed to Johnson, and the federal government will take title of five real estate properties owned by Johnson with a total value of $980,000.

The deal was based on agreement with Lisa Jones, a representative of the estate, who will receive the balance of the estate valued at $366,400.

The real estate properties will be sold and the proceeds of sale and those from the promissory note will be recouped by the U.S. Medicare Program, according to the news release.

The Mountain Home residence that is the subject of the government forfeiture was owned at the time of the filing of the complaint by Johnson's ex-wife. She "surrendered" $600,000 from the residence, according to the news release.

The cases were investigated by agents of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, Office of Inspector General and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Wulff and Debbie Groom represented the federal government in the forfeiture and probate actions.

NW News on 06/24/2014

Upcoming Events