BEAUMONT, Texas — A Beaumont counselor pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to health care fraud after overbilling Medicaid nearly $270,000.
Douglas Duane Franklin, 59, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorn on Friday according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He faces up to 10 years in federal prison for overbilling Medicaid by $269,828.19 the release said.
Franklin has provided counseling at his business, Guiding Light Counseling Service, PLLC, since 2007 where he provided counseling and mental health services that he billed to Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance the release said.
A months-long investigation by US Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit showed that between 2007 and 2019 Franklin was reimbursed $591,600.69 by Medicaid for more than 10,000 claims all in duration of 30 minutes or more the release said.
Source: Beaumont counselor pleads guilty to bilking Medicaid out of nearly $270K / 12newsnow