Two Arrested for Hospice Scheme

Normita Sierra and Rowena Elegado were arrested on an indictment alleging a $4.8 million hospice services scheme to defraud Medicare. According to the indictment, Sierra owned and operated Golden Meadows Hospice Inc. and D’Alexandria Hospice Inc., which billed Medicare for hospice services for patients who were not terminally ill. Under pressure from Sierra, who made the ultimate enrollment decisions even though she wasn’t a medical professional, and marketers, a nurse practitioner exaggerated and falsified patients’ conditions to make them seem terminally ill. Read a Department of Justice press release.

SMP Resource Center products often contain links to copyrighted material. These informational links are provided for convenience and informational purposes to educate; they do not constitute a guarantee, endorsement, or approval by the SMP of the information available on any linked external site. SMP bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. If you have any questions, please email info@smpresource.org.