CT psychologist to serve 2 years for $2.6M health care fraud that involved claims of treating dead patients
A Connecticut psychologist has been sentenced to two years in prison for a years-long, $2.6 healthcare fraud that involved billing insurers for treatment of dead patients and claiming to have provided other sorts of nonexistent care.
Federal prosecutors said that from 2014 to 2019, Michael Lonski, 72, submitted more than 80,000 claims for service. With the exception of a single day in 2017, he claimed to have treated patients every day, including weekends and holidays.
On 60 of these dates for which he billed, federal prosecutors said records show Lonski would have had to work longer than 24 hours. On 901 of the dates, Lonski billed for more than 12 hours of service.
Prosecutors said Lonski was a licensed psychologist who, with his wife Dr. Evelyn Llewellyn, maintained separate medical practices out of their home office in Old Greenwich.
They were authorized providers for the Connecticut Medicaid program, Medicare, and other health care benefit programs. Lonski assumed responsibility for submitting claims for reimbursement for services allegedly provided by himself and Llewellyn, both at their home office and at various skilled nursing facilities within Connecticut, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Prosecutors said that, for years, Lonski billed insurers for services that he knew were not rendered, including by billing for patients who were deceased, for dates of service when he was out of the country, for dates of service when Llewellyn was out of the country, and for dates of service when he was hospitalized.
What the prosecutors called fraudulent claims were responsible for a loss of about $2,651,294, including a loss of $1,157,292 to the Connecticut Medicaid program and a loss of $119,092 Medicare.
In 2002, Lonski settled a civil lawsuit alleging health care fraud, brought by the federal government in New York. He agreed in that case to pay $4 million in restitution and was excluded from participating in all federal healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, for five years. He must report to prison on March 25, 2024 and also must serve three years of supervised release.