A federal jury in Lafayette yesterday convicted a Louisiana nurse practitioner for her involvement in a healthcare fraud scheme that billed Medicare over $2 million for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME).
Shanone Chatman-Ashley, 45, of Opelousas, was found guilty of five counts of health care fraud following a trial. According to court documents and evidence presented, Chatman-Ashley, a Medicare-enrolled nurse practitioner, worked as an independent contractor for companies claiming to provide telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries.
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Prosecutors demonstrated that Chatman-Ashley routinely ordered DME, such as knee braces and suspension sleeves, for patients she had not examined. To conceal the fraudulent activity, she signed documentation falsely asserting that she had consulted with beneficiaries and conducted personal assessments.
Between 2017 and 2019, Chatman-Ashley signed more than 1,000 orders for DME that was not medically necessary, resulting in over $2 million in fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare and more than $1 million in reimbursements. Evidence also showed that Chatman-Ashley received kickbacks and bribes from the telehealth companies in exchange for signing these orders.
“Today, a Louisiana jury convicted Shanone Chatman-Ashley of health care fraud for brazenly cheating Medicare out of its limited resources,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Dishonest medical practitioners put significant strain on our health care system and reduce the quality of patient care. The Department of Justice will not tolerate medical professionals who fraudulently enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers.”
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U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook for the Western District of Louisiana emphasized the betrayal of trust. “This defendant not only defrauded the Medicare Program but went against everything the medical profession stands for, which is a promise to provide ethical and responsible patient care,” stated Van Hook. He added that Chatman-Ashley exploited elderly and handicapped beneficiaries by ordering unnecessary items.
Jason E. Meadows, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), highlighted the damage caused by illegal kickbacks. “Illegal kickback payments undermine and corrupt the medical decision-making process,” said Meadows. “Both the payer and recipient of kickbacks benefit from these schemes, but it’s ultimately the taxpayers who foot the bill.”
Chatman-Ashley is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each of the five health care fraud counts. The final sentence will be determined by a federal judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant statutory factors.
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