A South Florida doctor accused of falsely diagnosing hundreds of patients as part of a Medicare fraud scheme has pleaded guilty.
The U.S. Attorney's Office reports that Dr. Isaac Kojo Anakwah Thompson pleaded guilty this past week to one count of health care fraud. He faces up to 10 years in prison at a May 18 sentencing.
Court records show that Thompson engaged in a scheme to defraud the Medicare Advantage program, a voluntary system which allows Medicare beneficiaries to enroll in health insurance plans sponsored by private insurance companies. Between 2006 and 2010, Thompson defrauded Medicare out of about $2.1 million by diagnosing 387 Medicare Advantage beneficiaries with ankylosing spondylitis, a rare chronic inflammatory disease of the spine.
