Haichao Huang, Health Care Fraud, California 2020

Haichao Huang, 46, of San Francisco, Calif., was sentenced to 12 months in prison for committing health care fraud and making false statements relating to healthcare matters, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson.

The Honorable Susan Illston, United States District Judge, handed down the sentence on May 29, 2020.

Huang pleaded guilty on December 6, 2019 to health care fraud and making false statement relating to healthcare matters.

According to the plea agreement, Huang was a healthcare provider who offered acupuncture, physical therapy, massage, and other services to patients in and around San Francisco, Calif. Beginning no later than February 2013 and continuing through at least June 2018, Huang knowingly and willfully executed a scheme to defraud healthcare benefit programs.

Huang submitted and caused to be submitted false claims for reimbursement from healthcare benefit programs that he knew were not properly payable, including from programs provided through federal government and labor union healthcare plans. Huang included false and inaccurate billing codes that artificially inflated both the type of service the patient received and the time he spent with the patient.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Illston ordered Huang to serve two years of supervised release to begin after his prison term has concluded and to pay restitution of $807,785.38 and a $10,000 fine.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/san-francisco-acupuncturist-sentenced-12-months-prison-health-care-fraud