Medical providers suspended for fraudulent activity
Posted On: Aug. 9, 2017 1:27 PM CSTThe California Department of Industrial Relations said Tuesday that its Division of Workers’ Compensation has suspended two medical providers from the state’s workers compensation system.
Glendale, California-based Fermin Iglesias, a provider of durable medical equipment, and San Diego-based chiropractor Steven Rigler pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Mr. Iglesias pleaded guilty to federal charges of “participating in a fraud scheme in which injured workers were referred to specific doctors in exchange for kickbacks,” the department said in a statement. Mr. Rigler pleaded guilty to fraud charges in federal court as a participant in Mr. Iglesias’ kickback scheme.
Under Assembly Bill 1244, passed in 2016, medical providers are banned from participating in California’s workers comp system if they have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving fraud, abuse of the Medi-Cal or Medicare programs, or abuse of the workers comp system.