Houma chiropractor Patrick Haydel pleads guilty in $14 million Medicare fraud scheme
A Houma chiropractor faces up to 10 years in prison in connection with a multi-million-dollar Medicare fraud and kickback scheme.
Patrick Haydel, 57, who has run a Barrow Street practice for more than 25 years, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to papers filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans.
HealthPro, a company Haydel owns, received nearly $14 million between 2018 and 2021 in the scheme, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says in its complaint. Haydel personally made $2.8 million of that money.
Haydel is alleged to have paid out more than $7 million worth of kickbacks for authorizations from medical doctors for back braces, neck braces and other forms of medical equipment that were not medically necessary but were billed to taxpayers through Medicare, court papers show.
In the plea agreement, Haydel acknowledges that nearly $14 million is owed to Medicare, and court papers say the federal government is seeking restitution from him and his company. Haydel also faces a $250,000 fine.
The allegations concern Haydel’s medical supply company and not his chiropractic practice.
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After being charged in October, Haydel was released on his own recognizance. He pleaded guilty in January, and sentencing has been scheduled for April 11 before U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey, though a court official said it is highly possible the hearing may be delayed until summer.
A call to Haydel was referred to his Metairie attorney, Richard T. Simmons, who noted that the claims of improper operations span “two and a half years out of a decade of legitimate operations.”
“Dr. Haydel has been cooperating with the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney's Office and their investigators from the inception of the investigation and continues to date,” Simmons said in a statement sent to The Houma Courier and Thibodaux Daily Comet. “Due to his ongoing cooperation, he is not at liberty to give a more-expansive comment concerning the facts of the case.”
From 2018 through 2021, the government’s complaint states, Haydel “knowingly conspired and agreed with others to knowingly defraud Medicare,” concealing the activities through “sham marketing agreements.”
“While the overwhelming majority of the proceeds went to … telemarketers, Dr. Haydel is making arrangements to recompense the federal government for the proceeds he obtained,” Simmons said. “He has been a well-respected healthcare provider for over 25 years and is a pillar of his community. Dr. Haydel’s intentions have always been to help people. Dr. Haydel regrets his involvement in this matter altogether.”
Court papers filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office say Haydel's company got complaints of Medicare beneficiaries who received the durable medical equipment “despite suffering from dementia and/or other serious mental or physical impairments.”
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Those complaints were eventually brought to the attention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In one case, Haydel’s company got a complaint that a 79-year-old woman received unnecessary equipment even though she lives in a nursing home and has dementia. In other instances, the government alleges, HealthPro billed for multiple braces delivered to the same beneficiary at the same time.
One witness was prepared to testify for the government, had the case gone to trial, that in 2019 they received calls from companies offering free orthotic braces but declined all the offers, according to papers filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Nevertheless, Medicare data show Haydel’s company submitted $5,100 in claims to send that same person one back brace, two wrist braces, two knee braces, and two suspension sleeves on the same date in March 2019.
Testimony was also planned, court papers show, from doctors who treated people receiving the medical equipment but who never ordered or authorized any of it.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Houma chiropractor faces 10 years in $14 million Medicare fraud scheme
