The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Montana on Monday charged a Whitefish doctor with conspiracy to commit wire fraud who is accused of helping rake in nearly $39 million in fraudulent billings to Medicare and other federal benefit programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to federal court documents, Ronald David Dean reached a deal with federal prosecutors under which he agreed to help the government continue its fraud investigation and will also require him to pay back about $780,500 in restitution to the Medicare program and two other federal programs.
According to criminal charges filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Missoula by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Dean signed prescriptions and other documents for medical equipment and COVID-19 tests for people who didn't need them. In turn, two unidentified people running separate telemedicine companies incorporated in Florida then billed the federal government for the costs. Dean then received payments as part of the kickback scheme, according to the documents.
As a result of the conspiracy, Dean and two others sent fraudulent billings totaling $39.6 million to Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Civilian Health and Medical Programs, and the Railroad Retirement Board, of which the three programs paid out at least $18 million, the indictment alleges.
To get reimbursed through Medicare for durable medical equipment — things like prosthetics, braces, and orthotics — a provider must sign an agreement stating they will follow the program’s laws and rules, including the anti-kickback statute, only submit claims for medically necessary prescriptions, document requests for COVID-19 tests, and certify they will not submit false or fraudulent claims.
There are similar requirements under the Railroad Retirement Board, which provides benefits to railroad workers, and the V.A.
But according to the indictment, from January 2022 to July 2023, Dean and unnamed co-conspirators devised a scheme in which Dean worked as an independent contractor for two others and signed doctors’ orders for durable medical equipment and COVID-19 tests “that were used to submit false and fraudulent claims to government health care programs.”
According to the documents, the other two people would send Dean an unsigned prescription for durable medical equipment, which he would sign electronically without seeing or communicating with the patients. A certification stating that Dean had personally evaluated the patient and found the prescription was “medically necessary.”
For COVID-19 tests, Dean signed documents that allowed two other people to order over-the-counter COVID-19 tests in Dean's name. The others billed government programs for tests that were not requested by patients. Payments for those tests went to Dean, and he sent most of the money back to the two others, court filings say.
“Person A and Person B, through Company A and Company B, illegally paid bribes to the defendant in exchange for signing doctors’ orders for DME and over-the-counter COVID-19 tests,” the indictment states. “The defendant used a personal bank account at First Interstate Bank for the purpose of, among other things, receiving illegal bribes and kickbacks from Company A and Company B in exchange for signing doctors’ orders for DME and over-the-counter COVID tests.”
Under the plea agreement with the government, if a judge signs off on it, the U.S. Attorney's Office will recommend a reduction in Dean's offense level for accepting responsibility. The agreement states that Dean has agreed to work with the government and said he “can provide substantial assistance” in other ongoing investigations — information the government has agreed not to use against him.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Montana, when asked about the two unnamed co-conspirators and whether they had been charged, said they could not comment further on pending litigation and cases.
The plea agreement also states that the government will not seek to take Dean into custody in the case, but will present its case to the court. Under the agreement, he will have to pay restitution of about $708,000 – most of which will go to Medicare.
According to the agreement, Dean would have to deposit an amount of $250,000 in the court ten days before the sentencing.
The charge Dean agreed to plead to was conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
Dean is listed on the hospital’s website as an emergency department physician at St. Luke’s Community Healthcare in Ronan. A company spokesman did not immediately respond to a phone message left by The Daily Montanan Tuesday morning asking about Dean’s employment status and seeking further comment on the case.
Dean's WebMD profile includes 10 one-star reviews, most of which were made last summer and fall, and they believe Dean is running a Medicare billing scam by prescribing medical devices he didn't ask for.
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