Owner of Texas Durable Medical Equipment Companies Indicted for Alleged Medicare Fraud

February 24, 2014 — Medicare fraud fuels increasing health care costs and risks the safety of our country’s health care system. When unscrupulous health care providers violate the federal False Claims Act by filing false claims for reimbursement with Medicare and other publicly funded healthcare programs, insiders are often the first to know. The qui tam provisions in the statute give whistleblowers a way to do what’s right. Tipsters filing a lawsuit on the government’s behalf may be entitled to a significant share of the proceeds when the government makes a successful recovery.

Huey P. Williams Jr., the owner and operator of two Houston durable medical equipment (DME) providers, has been arrested for his alleged participation in a Medicare scam that bilked $3.4 million from the government. Hermann Medical Supplies Inc. and Hermann Medical Supplies II offered orthotics and other DME to Medicare beneficiaries. But from 2006 to 2010, Williams allegedly relied on the companies as part of an orchestrated plan to submit false claims to Medicare, often in connection with orthotic devices that purportedly were used to treat arthritis-related conditions. The two companies allegedly filed false claims for equipment that was not medically necessary and in some cases, was never provided. According to the Justice Department, the allegedly fraudulent claims to Medicare totaled $3.4 million.

Health care industry insiders frequently root out False Claims Act violations involving false claims to Medicare for unnecessary medical equipment. Many tipsters, however, are unsure about how to file a whistleblower lawsuit. With qui tam attorneys in Dallas, Los Angeles and the Washington D.C. area, Waters & Kraus guides informants through the process, all the while protecting their interests. Contact us by email or phone our whistleblower lawyers at 855.784.0268 to learn more about joining together to fight health care fraud.