By SDCN Editor
A federal jury has convicted an Arcadia, California doctor for his involvement in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that patients did not need, federal authorities said.
The conviction comes after trial evidence showed 74-year-old Dr. John Thropay’s role as the medical director of several hospice companies, including Blue Sky Hospice Incorporated in Van Nuys, California.
Between October 2014 and March 2016, Thropay fraudulently certified Medicare patients of Blue Sky as having terminal illnesses that they did not have, enabling the hospice to bill Medicare for unnecessary hospice services. In 2015, he was listed as the attending provider for more hospice claims paid by Medicare than any other provider in the nation.
Thropay was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and four counts of healthcare fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 28 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count. The sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the FBI.
