St. Louis psychiatrist Howard Goldstein pleaded guilty Tuesday, October 12, 2010Â and admitted to lying to an FBI agent about making false Medicare billings.
He would spend five minutes or less with a patient, for example, and then bill Medicaid for 20 minutes. Goldstein now must repay $830,329 in fraudulent billings, and his former employers SSM St. Charles Clinic Medical Group and SSM Healthcare owe another $865,812 to reimburse the government for Goldstein’s false charges.
A significant portion of health care appropriations and insurance reimbursements has been lost due to financial fraud within the mental health industry, an international problem estimated to cost more than a hundred billion dollars every year; up to $40 billion of this is due to fraudulent practices in the mental health industry in the U.S. No wonder health insurance costs are increasing.
We think Goldstein should have his medical license revoked; express your own opinion to the Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts (healingarts@pr.mo.gov) and the Missouri Attorney General (attorney.general@ago.mo.gov).
For more information about psychiatric fraud, click here to download the free CCHR booklet, “Massive Fraud – Psychiatry’s Corrupt Industry – Report and recommendations on the criminal mental health monopoly.“