Detroit doctor hides money in his kids' account; Claims processing firm executives sentenced for kickbacks;

News From Around the Web

> North Texas chiropractor Abbas Zahedi was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison and ordered to pay $2.4 million in restitution for healthcare fraud convictions that were handed down in June, according to an FBI release. Zahedi and several co-conspirators provided monthly kickbacks to recruit and refer patients to his rehab facility, then billed companies for services that weren't provided. Release

> A Detroit doctor was charged with healthcare fraud and money laundering, allegedly stashing $600,000 in the bank accounts of his 8- and 10-year-old children, according the Detroit News. Aria Sabit, M.D., allegedly performed lumbar spinal fusions on numerous patients and then billed insurers, but never installed the devices during surgery. Article

> Two executives from MultiPlan Inc., a leading healthcare claims processing firm, were sentenced to serve a year in federal prison and pay $1.2 million in restitution after being convicted for $3.4 million in bribes and kickbacks, according to the National Law Review. Keith Bush, former vice president and director of database administration, and Anil Singh, former CIO, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in which they steered $23 million in contracts to five technology companies in exchange for payments, which they laundered through shell companies. Article

Payer News

> Since the November midterm elections, many states have made moves to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act. Some are controlled by Republican governors, including a few who were staunchly opposed to expanding Medicaid or even participated in the lawsuit against the federal government. Article

Health Finance News

> The National Healthcare Expenditure may reach $3.2 trillion in 2015 meaning healthcare spending will reach a milestone of $10,000 per person, according to Forbes magazine. The article notes that the growth is attributed to individual patients enrolled in high-deductible, consumer-directed health plans. Article

And finally … A monkey resuscitates his electrocuted friend. Article