Ten Defendants Charged in $1.4 Billion Rural Hospital Pass-Through Billing Scheme

Ten individuals, including hospital managers, laboratory owners, billers and recruiters, were charged in an indictment unsealed today for their participation in an elaborate pass-through billing scheme using rural hospitals in several states as billing shells to submit fraudulent claims for laboratory testing. The indictment alleges that from approximately November 2015 through February 2018, the conspirators billed private insurance companies approximately $1.4 billion for laboratory testing claims as part of this fraudulent scheme, and were paid approximately $400 million.