A Brentwood woman was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for defrauding Medicare and other government health care programs out of nearly $7 million, according to United States Attorney Braden H. Boucek for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Helen Boerman, 48, was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $7 million in restitution Sept. 10. Over a three-and-a-half-year period, Boerman submitted false claims to Medicare through her business Brentwood Eye Care, Boucek said.
"Health care fraud is theft from American taxpayers and from programs intended to serve people who need them,” Boucek said. “This defendant exploited those programs for millions of dollars through years of fraudulent billing. Today’s sentence holds her accountable
and sends a clear message that those who steal taxpayer dollars will face serious consequences.”
Boerman "submitted claims seeking reimbursement for dates of service where patients did not in fact receive services and for wound care products that she had not actually purchased or used because she split wound care products intended for single use," the U.S. Attorney's office said in a statement.
As part of her guilty plea, Boerman admitted that during the course of her criminal conduct she submitted approximately $11 million in false Medicare, TennCare, and FEHBP claims and received approximately $6.9 million, the agency said.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Brentwood eye doctor gets prison term in $7M health care fraud case
