Houston
A Texas doctor involved in a power wheelchair scheme that led to the creation of Operation Wheeler Dealer — a massive crackdown on Medicare fraud and abuse — has been found guilty of defrauding the government of millions.
In his second trial, Dr. Anant Mauskar, 72, was convicted Nov. 17 by a federal jury on 20 counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy but was acquitted on four additional counts of health care fraud. Mauskar's first trial ended in a mistrial in April after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Mauskar, along with five others charged in connection with the scheme, allegedly billed Medicare and Medicaid $32 million and received $16 million for fraudulent claims. Four of the others have pleaded guilty in the case, and his office manager was acquitted ealier this year.
According to the charges, the doctor was accused of prescribing $4 million worth of power wheelchairs for patients who didn't need them, accepting kickbacks, conspiring with the owners of a physical therapy clinic and billing for services that were not performed. Although Mauskar signed forms attesting that he had personally supervised services, he never examined any patients or supervised any services, federal attorneys said.
In the scheme, prosecutors said marketers recruited patients for the physician and gave his prescriptions for power chairs to medical supply companies, which billed Medicare and Medicaid for the equipment. The companies then supplied less expensive scooters to the patients and kept the difference, sometimes amounting to as much as $5,000. Mauskar was convicted on 16 counts charging that he wrote prescriptions for power chairs that cost from $4,000 to $7,000 in return for kickbacks of $200 each.
Mauskar's sentencing is set for Feb. 24. The conspiracy conviction carries a maximum punishment of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Each of the health care fraud convictions carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
In September 2003, after the fraud scheme came to light, CMS and HHS' Office of Inspector General announced Operation Wheeler Dealer, a 10-point initiative aimed at curbing fraud and abuse of the Medicare power wheelchair benefit. The federal campaign included aggressive scrutiny of power wheelchair claims, particularly in the Houston area.
