Telemedicine company owner sentenced in Medicare fraud scheme
By HME News Staff
Updated 10:01 AM CDT, Thu July 2, 2026
WASHINGTON – The owner of two telemedicine companies has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $66 million in restitution for her role in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME) and prescription drugs, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. “The defendant – nurse practitioner responsible for the care and safety of her patients – exploited our health care system, conspiring to submit over $136 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald. Jean Wilson of Richmond Hill, Ga., owned and operated two telemedicine companies between 2017 and 2019. According to court documents and statements made in court, Wilson and others paid illegal kickbacks to medical providers to sign orders for orthotic braces and prescriptions for drugs for Medicare beneficiaries, even though the beneficiaries did not need them. Wilson signed many of the prescriptions herself. After obtaining the signed orders and prescriptions, Wilson and others sold them to purported marketing companies for about $90 per Medicare beneficiary. The marketing companies often resold the orders to brace companies and pharmacies, which submitted claims to Medicare. Evidence showed practitioners working for Wilson signed orders for four or more orthotics per beneficiary for more than 3,000 beneficiaries. Wilson pleaded guilty in March 2024 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud.
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