Chicago – August 13, 2012 – A home health care agency in suburban Lincolnwood, two nurses who are part owners of the company and a third nurse affiliated with them, along with two marketers, were indicted on federal charges for allegedly participating in a conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks in exchange for the referral of Medicare patients for home health care services, federal law enforcement officials announced today. 

Defendants Marilyn Maravilla and Junjee L. Arroyo, both part owners of Goodwill Home Healthcare, Inc., and three other defendants allegedly conspired to pay and receive approximately $400,000 in kickbacks to themselves, nurses, marketers and others for the referral and retention of Medicare patients that enabled Goodwill to bill Medicare approximately $5 million.

Also indicted were Ferdinand Echavia, a licensed nurse who referred patients, and Jean Holloway and Rakeshkumar Shah, both of whom marketed Goodwill’s services to Medicare patients.  The 29-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury last Thursday and unsealed on Friday following the arrests of Holloway, 41, of Bellwood, and Shah, 46, of Des Plaines.

We’ll watch for more details, and lessons you can learn from this case about what to do and not to do in compensating sales and marketing staff in home health and hospice.