Twin Cities Acupuncture Business Owner Charged With Defrauding Medicaid Of Over $1.6 Million
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities woman is charged with defrauding Minnesota's Medicaid program out of more than $1.6 million through her acupuncture business, which is accused of regularly overbilling customers, even billing them months after they'd last visited the practice.
Xiaoyan Hu, 60, of Eden Prairie, is charged via summons in Hennepin County with 17 felony counts of theft by false representation. If convicted of even one of the counts, Hu could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
On Thursday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office investigated Hu's business, said his staff is committed to holding people accountable for defrauding Medicaid and stealing taxpayer dollars.
"Minnesotans who receive Medical Assistance have a right to expect that they'll receive all the care, dignity, and respect they're entitled to," Ellison said, in a statement. "Minnesotans trying to afford their lives have a right to expect that every one of their tax dollars will be spent properly and legally."
According to the charging documents, a two-year investigation by the state's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit found that Hu's business, Chinese Acupuncture and Herb Center, which operates in Edina, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Burnsville, defrauded Medicare by overbilling for services and for billing when no service at all was provided.
Investigators found that between 2016 and 2020 Hu's practice would consistently bill customers for an hour of services, even if their appointment was for a half-hour or as little as 15 minutes. Former employees told investigators that when they questioned Hu about this practice, she told them to continue billing for a full hour of acupuncture services, the complaint states. Some of the former employees quit over this practice.
Additionally, investigators found that some former clients were billed for services for months -- even years on one occasion -- after the client stopped receiving acupuncture services from Hu's business.
Hu also faces charges for billing for services that were not covered, billing for services done in a client's home without prior authorization for home visits, using the credentials of another acupuncturist to bill for services after a particular insurance company removed her business from their network, and for signing for language interpreter services when they were not given.
According to the charging documents, Hu defrauded UCare of nearly $1.1 million, Medica of $271,942, Blue Cross Blue Shield of $209,848, HealthPartners of $164,484.89, and the Minnesota Department of Human Services of $13,286.