A Stratford doctor was sentenced Thursday to serve four years in prison for health care fraud.
Ananthakumar Thillainathan, a doctor and the owner and president of MDCareNow LLC, received almost $840,000 from the state Medicaid program for psychotherapy services, which he knew patients didn’t receive from his employees. He also paid a third-party company to recruit more than 1,000 Medicaid patients, which was in violation of his state provider agreement, and received more than $1 million from Medicaid for services provided to those patients, U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said in a news release.
Last November, Thillainathan pleaded guilty to health care fraud and kickbacks involving federal health care programs.
In Bridgeport federal court Thursday, U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill ordered Thillainathan to serve three years of supervised release after his prison sentence. He was also ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution, $500,000 of which is due within 60 days, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Thillainathan, who is a citizen of Sri Lanka and a lawful, permanent citizen of the United States, faces immigration proceedings when he completes his prison term, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
While he was released on bond and awaiting sentencing, he surrendered his state Controlled Substance Certificate of Registration. However, despite not holding a valid license, Thillainathan continued to write prescriptions, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. He wrote at least 34 prescription for controlled substances, including 14 for Oxycodone, the office said. His bond was revoked and he has been detained since Jan. 13, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said MDCareNow, a medical practice that has offices in Stratford and Milford, was a participating provider enrolled as both an internal medicine group and as a behavioral health clinician group in the Connecticut Medicaid program.
Between June 2019 and May 2022, Thillainathan submitted, or caused to be submitted, $839,724 in false psychotherapy service claims to the state Medicaid program.
“Thillainathan knew that the billed psychotherapy Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes, which identify the nature and complexity of the services provided, were not supported by medical records provided by his employees, and that the services were not provided,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
An investigation found that Thillainathan submitted fraudulent claims that falsely represented his employees had rendered 60-minute psychotherapy sessions, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Instead, his employees “only had very brief conversations with patients, had only left a voicemail for patients, or had no contact with patients at all,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
In addition to these false claims, Thillainathan also paid a third-party recruiting company for each Connecticut Medicaid patient the company recruited and provided transportation to MDCareNow for medical services, which is in violation of his Connecticut Medical Assistance Program provider agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Thillainathan paid the patient recruiting company about $100 per patient for an initial visit to his business and about $40 per patient for any subsequent visit. From November 2019 to May 2021, Thillainathan paid the company for recruiting 1,018 patients, in which his business received $1,071,328 in reimbursements from Connecticut Medicaid, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
People who suspect health care fraud are encouraged to report it by calling 1-800-HHS-TIPS.
