Two owners of companies that provided psychological services to nursing homes across the Southeast were sentenced Thursday for their roles in a psychological testing scheme that bilked more than $25 million from Medicare.
Rodney Hesson, 47, and his mother, Gertrude Parker, 63, were charged with submitting fraudulent Medicare claims for psychological testing in nursing homes in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida that was not necessary or, in some cases, not provided to residents. In total, Parker and Hesson received $13.5 million of the more than $25 million they billed to Medicare.
Hesson and Parker were were given prison sentences of 15 years and seven years, respectively, for charges of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and conspiracy to make false statements related to healthcare matters. Hesson will be required to pay $13.8 million in restitution, while Parker was ordered to pay $7.3 million. The pair were convicted in January.
Two other psychologists also were charged in the the scheme.
