A Michigan home health care agency owner and a nurse were convicted in connection with a $1.6 million Medicare fraud scheme. DOJ alleges they paid kickbacks to obtain confidential patient records and steer Medicare patients to services.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced convictions tied to a Medicare fraud and kickback conspiracy involving a Michigan home health care agency. DOJ said the case centered on the defendants’ use of bribery to identify and route Medicare patients toward services provided through the agency. The alleged scheme depended on inside access—DOJ reports that a discharge nurse was bribed to obtain confidential patient information, which helped the fraudsters target potential Medicare recipients more effectively. According to DOJ, the defendants then induced referrals and patient steering, turning access to confidential records into an operational advantage. DOJ also described payments made through digital methods as part of the kickback structure, supporting the claim that patient referrals were not based on legitimate clinical need or standard processes. The result was a fraudulent billing impact on federal healthcare funding and a harmful distortion of healthcare decision-making. DOJ’s announcement underscores that Medicare fraud cases often involve both financial wrongdoing and efforts to exploit or compromise confidential information. The agency’s framing emphasizes the broader consumer and taxpayer harm caused when kickbacks and bribery are used to generate patients and increase reimbursements improperly.