The Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The owner of a Warwick ambulance company admitted Friday to swindling the health-care system of more than $700,000 by inflating Medicare and insurance claims for runs his service made.
John M. Almon, 55, owner of Med-Care Ambulance LLC, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to two counts of health-care fraud for over billing Medicare and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island for routine ambulance runs for dialysis patients in 2008 by categorizing them as specialty-care transports. Such transports are reimbursed at a higher rate, and authorities said he waived the co-payment of people using his service to encourage more runs.
In addition, he admitted to obstructing federal auditors looking into billing irregularities by instructing his staff “to clean [the records] up and ensure there were no red flags,” as told by Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis M. Matos.