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Clear Choice Diagnostics Bilks Medicare for Millions, Florida Man Pleads Guilty

By: Teresa Tennyson

Apr 2, 2024

On March 26, Robert M. Clark of Florida pled guilty to charges related to his role in bilking Medicare for more than $30 million, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.

Clark represented himself as the owner of Clear Choice Diagnostics, Inc., headquartered in Boca Rotan, Fla. Along with the real owner of Clear Choice Diagnostics, Clark ran a scheme to illegally bill the government for genetics and COVID-19 test kits, prosecutors say.

Clark faces five years in prison for his role in the fraud. The FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) continue to investigate the case.

A Sophisticated Scam

Clear Choice Diagnostics used stolen beneficiary numbers to charge Medicare for genetics and COVID-19 test kits that were neither ordered by a physician nor deemed medically necessary. That added up to $30 million in false charges, more than half of which was paid out by Medicare, according to court filings.

Clark’s scheme also involved paying kickbacks and bribes in exchange for referrals of Medicare beneficiaries.

The Toll of Medicare Fraud

Medicare fraud costs U.S. taxpayers over $100 billion each year, according to estimates by the National Health Care Fraud Association. That equals an average estimated tax burden of more than $300 on every man, woman, and child in the United States.

The DHHS has an ongoing fraud alert on genetic test scams. The alert warns against providing Medicare beneficiary numbers to companies who send “free” test kits in the mail. Unless a genetic test is deemed medically necessary and ordered by a physician, Medicare will not pay the claim, leaving the patient on the hook for the bill.

Related Tags
Fraud Medical Fraud Healthcare/Medical Report Medical Fraud Medicare
Teresa Tennyson
Teresa Tennyson is the Editor-in-Chief for The Daily Muck. As a journalist, her work has appeared in Veteran.com, The Military Wallet, Mortgage Research Center and Yahoo Finance. She has a passion for factual and fair reporting. Along with The Daily Muck’s writing team, she reports on fraud, scams, and corruption and researches practical advice on how people can protect themselves and their communities from these crimes.

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