Last week, an alleged healthcare fraud scheme seemed to unfold when two El Paso hospital CEOs were charged with deceptive billing practices. Court documents reveal that Jose Huerta, 58, the Chief Executive Officer for two Long-Term Acute Care hospitals in El Paso, and Israel Navarro, 47, connected financially to both hospitals, were indicted on June 25. These charges came after an investigation pinpointed a slew of false insurance claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield for urine drug tests (UDTs) that were supposedly performed on non-existent patients and forwarded to a Dallas laboratory, a claim the indictment asserts is patently false.
The financial ramifications are staggering, with Huerta and Navarro alleged to have submitted around $16 million in claims, resulting in a loss of over $12 million for Blue Cross Blue Shield. The indictment accuses the pair of conspiring to knowingly defraud, which could potentially see them facing serious time; up to 20 years in prison and a quarter-million-dollar fine for each count, to be precise. Navarro turned himself in to the FBI in El Paso and managed to secure his initial court appearance free on a $150,000 bond, with Huerta following suit, obtaining release on a $50,000 bond after his surrender and initial hearing. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the tale of alleged deception has just begun to fully unravel.
As detailed by the U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons, the investigation is being steered by the FBI and Texas Department of Insurance, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof takes the helm in prosecuting the case. The turn of events marks another dismal chapter in the ongoing battle against healthcare fraud, a crime that annually siphons off billions of dollars from an already strained healthcare system.
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