Psychiatrist Pleads Guilty in $200 Million Medicare Kickback Scheme

A Florida psychiatrist pleaded guilty last week for his role in a health care scam that resulted in the submission of more than $200 million worth of bogus claims to Medicare, the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.

Dr. Alan Gumer, 64, of Tamarac, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud after being charged on Feb. 15, 2011, along with 19 others involved in the scheme, on various counts of health care fraud, money laundering and other offenses.

Gumer was a psychiatrist at American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC), a Miami-based corporation that supposedly operated partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) in seven locations throughout South Florida and Orlando. Co-defendants included ATC; its management company, Medlink Professional Management Group Inc.; and the owners and lead manager of ATC, Medlink and the American Sleep Institute (ASI).