Meadow Valley Pharmacy owner, Dr. Adam Katschke, has pled guilty to one count of insurance fraud and one count of submitting false Medicaid claims, both Class D felonies.
County District Attorney Daniel Hooge reported his office received a report Aug. 26 from the office of State Attorney General Adam Laxalt, informing them of the plea agreement.
In the document, Katschke states, and through advice of his attorney, Daniel Albregts of Las Vegas, “that I will pay $1.5 million in restitution, and $100,000 in investigative costs.” In addition, as described in Exhibit I from the Attorney General, “the State will not file any new charges arising out of the facts and circumstances related to the investigation.”
Katschke also said in the written statement that “I admit the facts that support all the elements of the offenses to which I now plead as set forth in Exhibit I.”
The Class D felony regarding insurance fraud counts states that “on or about November 14, 2013 and on or about April 9, 2015, within Lincoln County, Nevada, I, Adam Paul Katschke, did knowingly, willfully and unlawfully present or cause to be presented statements in support of claims for payment or other benefits under policies of insurance known by me to conceal or omit facts, or contain false or misleading information concerning any fact material to the claim.”
On the submitting false claims: Medicaid fraud, the document reads “that I, Adam Paul Katschke, on or about April 2013 to April 2015, within Lincoln County, Nevada, did knowingly and willfully make or cause to be made claims to Nevada Medicaid, knowing the claims to be false, in whole or in part, by commission or omission.”
Hooge said his office was not involved in the investigation, but thought sentencing for Katschke might be in January, 2017. Sentencing might involve up to four years in prison by the Nevada State Department of Corrections and a fine of $5,000 on each count.
However, the possibility of probation also exists and will be at the discretion of one of the judges of the Seventh Judicial District in Ely.
Medicaid fraud is a huge problem both in Nevada and nationwide. Residents of Nevada are lucky to live in a state that pays cash awards to whistleblowers, however. The Nevada Submission of False Claims to State or Local Government Act pays whistleblowers with inside information about abuses to the state funded Medicaid program. (With $1.5 million in restitution to be paid by Dr. Katschke, the potential award is $450,000.) If you have original source info, are one of the first to report and the state collects money, you could receive a large percentage of that money. Contact the Nevada Medicaid Fraud Control Unit or visit http://www.medicaidfraudhotline.com/nevada-report-medicaid-fraud.php to learn more.
By reporting fraud, you are putting a stop to greed and corruption, saving tax dollars and insuring that there is enough money to provide services to those who truly need help.
Brian Mahany-We get it! Take your free advertising and scram already! You’re saying the exact cut and paste comment on every single article concerning this story. You don’t live or work in LC, so kindly go away. We get the message.Now can you let LC get back to living their lives, wondering what’s going to happen to their Pharmacist that many of us grew up with, attended school with, many still live in the area with, and what people are going to do for a pharmacy? Some of us care about HIM you know, and not just your WHISTLEBLOWING Law Firm.
Depending upon the nature of the fraud, much of this is probably preventable