Dr. Henry Geoffrey Watson Referred Patients to Expensive and Unneeded Home Health Services Billed to Medicare After Sham Visits with Victims in Retirement Homes
SAN FRANCISCO – Henry Geoffrey Watson, a medical doctor residing in Oakland, California, was convicted by a federal jury today of charges that included accepting kickbacks for patient referrals to home health agencies, health care fraud, and false statements relating to a health care matter, announced Attorney for the United States Thomas A. Colthurst, Robert K. Tripp, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge, and Steven J. Ryan, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG).
The jury found that Watson, 67, engaged in three health care kickback schemes from 2013 to 2019, using his position as a licensed medical doctor. The first scheme involved a conspiracy in which Watson agreed to refer patients to home health agency Amity Home Health Care in exchange for illegal kickback payments. The evidence at trial proved that Watson and employees of Amity and its CEO, Amanda Singh, conspired to pay Watson regular and recurring amounts, sometimes in the form of cash payments of $3,000 a month, to ensure that Watson referred Medicare patients to Amity each month.
Title 42, United States Code, Section 1320a-7b, the Anti-Kickback Statute, makes it a crime for any person to knowingly solicit, offer, or pay a kickback, bribe, or rebate for furnishing services under a Federal health care program including Medicare.
In the second scheme proved at trial, Watson accepted kickback payments from an undercover FBI agent posing as a home health agency representative seeking Watson’s agreement to refer his patients to a particular Bay Area home health agency. The evidence at trial included video recordings of Watson accepting envelopes of cash, for a total of more than $10,000, at four meetings in 2017. The jury heard evidence that Watson also suggested other doctors who he believed would be willing to accept illegal payments for referrals from the undercover agent.
The third scheme proved at trial involved a conspiracy between Watson and others to repeatedly and falsely certify individuals for Medicare-funded home health services that the individuals did not seek and did not need. The evidence at trial showed that Watson and co-conspirators arranged for Watson to briefly meet large numbers of unwitting elderly residents of Bay Area retirement homes. After these meetings, held in common areas or recreation rooms, Watson certified that each and every resident he met was homebound, meaning they had a normal inability to leave the home. In fact, according to the evidence and the jury’s verdict, Watson knew that the patients were not homebound and did not need the services he prescribed. Watson did not conduct any tests or conduct any inquiry about whether they were homebound, according to trial evidence, but he nevertheless made fraudulent referrals to the three home health agencies. During time periods that Watson repeatedly certified that certain individuals were homebound, testimony from these individuals and their regular primary care doctors showed that the individuals were generally healthy and active, engaging in activities such as traveling internationally, shopping, walking stairs, and jogging. The evidence proved Watson falsely billed Medicare for certifying these individuals for home health and for supervising their home health care, despite the fact that the individuals did not need that care. As part of the conspiracy, Watson was paid illegal kickbacks of $100 per patient referral by a co-conspirator working for the three home health agencies.
“Henry Watson engaged in a scheme to enrich himself and his co-conspirators by falsely certifying patients needed expensive home health care services, causing Medicare to pay millions in unnecessary and fraudulent claims,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp. “The FBI and its law enforcement partners will continue to pursue and prosecute medical professionals who cheat our critical healthcare programs like Medicare.”
HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Steven J. Ryan said: “Violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute harm patients by taking away their choice and by depriving them of a doctor committed to doing what is best for them. Kickbacks also can result in medically unnecessary services billed to Medicare, which can affect the availability of services and drive up the cost of health care for everyone. Individuals and entities that participate in the federal health care system must obey the laws meant to preserve the integrity of those programs.”
Reference
Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Inspector General
