Lynn Galbraith, 60, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
The Anaheim, California, former co-owner of Azure Hospice Care admitted to submitting more than $2.2 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for hospice services for patients who were not terminally ill, federal prosecutors announced.
In submitting the false claims to Medicare, Galbraith either “knew the beneficiaries did not qualify for hospice or knew that they did not have sufficient medical records supporting a diagnosis and prognosis that qualified them for hospice benefits,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicated in a statement. “She did not routinely coordinate with the beneficiaries’ primary care physicians about their purported conditions or terminal prognoses.”
Under the terms of her plea agreement, Galbraith admitted that she either knew patients did not qualify for hospice care or knew there was insufficient medical documentation to support the diagnoses and prognoses needed to establish eligibility.
In one case cited by federal officials, Galbraith submitted a $6,600 Medicare claim in October 2022 for hospice services provided to a patient, even though she knew there was insufficient medical documentation to establish the patient’s eligibility.
Overall, Galbraith submitted approximately $2.27 million in fraudulent claims on behalf of Azure Hospice Care, prosecutors said. Medicare paid the company approximately $2.14 million on those claims.
Galbraith is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 3 by U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt. She faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
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