Four from area charged with Medicare faud

Published: 2011-09-09 16:06:05
Author: NEWS-SUN | September 9, 2011

Four area medical professionals were among 91 defendants charged nationally with false billing scams that allegedly defrauded Medicare and private insurers of $295 million.

Jay Canastra of Vernon Hills, director of admissions at The Wealshire, a nursing home in Lincolnshire, was charged with soliciting and accepting a $1,600 kickback in 2009 exchange for referring nursing home Medicare patients to a West Dundee home health-care agency.

Federal officials said Wednesday there is no allegation that the nursing home or any other official there were aware of the alleged kickback.

Three chiropractors — Bradley Mattson, Steven Paul and Neelesh Patel — who jointly owned and operated Hawthorn Physical Medicine in Vernon Hills, along with five other chiropractic clinics in the region, are alleged to have submitted false claims to Blue Cross, Aetna and Humana health insurers. The three allegedly performed services either not medically necessary or not actually provided.

Mattson, 49, of Lake Forest, was charged with 19 counts of health-care fraud; Paul, 40, of Northbrook, was charged with four counts of health-care fraud; and Patel, 36, of Glenview, was charged with 15 counts of health-care fraud. Mattson is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 13; Paul and Patel are scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 15 in U.S. District Court, Chicago.

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