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The accused faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  

Last week, Dr. Alan Gumer, 64, a Miami-area psychiatrist, pleaded guilty for his role in a fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $200 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced in a June 30 release.
Why guilty? Charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud in February this year, Gumer pleaded guilty to the first charge.

Court documents reveal that American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC), the company that Gumer worked for purported to operate partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) in seven different locations throughout South Florida and Orlando.
Gumer admitted that he signed evaluations, notes and other documents in medical files for patients who did not require the treatment for which ATC billed Medicare. He knew that the patients attending ATC did not need intensive mental health treatment, and that the treatments offered by ATC were not the type of intensive treatments a PHP should provide. He admitted that he signed these files without examining the patients or writing and reading the statements he was signing, the release cited.
Gumer also admitted he wrote prescriptions for psychiatric medications for patients who did not need them in order to make it appear to Medicare that the patients qualified for PHP treatment, the release stated.
Court documents show that he also referred hundreds of ATC patients to a related company – the American Sleep Institute (ASI), for unnecessary diagnostic sleep disorder testing.

Penalty: According to the release, Gumer’s participation in the fraud resulted in $19.3 million in fraudulent billing to the Medicare program. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The sentencing of Gumer is scheduled for January 19, 2012.
For the complete press release, click here: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/June/11-crm-871.html