Florida man gets year in prison for bilking NH Medicaid of $174G in telehealth claims

CONCORD - A Florida man was sentenced on Wednesday to one year and one day in prison for causing psychotherapy sessions to be fraudulently billed to New Hampshire Medicaid.

Erik X. Alonso, 55, of Miami was convicted in 2015 of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and related offenses in the Southern District of Florida.

The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) maintains an Exclusion List that identifies individuals who cannot receive payment from federal health care programs, including Medicaid.

As a result of his conviction, Alonso, a psychotherapist, was placed on the Exclusion List, according to court documents. Then in March 2022 Alonso began working for a telehealth mental health provider based in New Hampshire, through which he provided services billed to New Hampshire Medicaid patients despite knowing he was on the Exclusion List.

Alonso also caused the telehealth provider to submit claims to New Hampshire Medicaid for counseling services that were not provided as represented, including in instances in which Alonso requested - and later received - a patient's assistance with personal tasks.

As a result of the scheme, Alonso admitted that he caused New Hampshire Medicaid to pay approximately $173,998 based on false and fraudulent claims.

Alonso pleaded guilty on October 23 to one count of health care fraud. At sentencing, Alonso was ordered to pay $173, 998.83 in restitution. The U.S. Attorney's Office previously entered into a resolution with the telehealth mental health provider, LifeWorks Counseling Associates, PLLC and its owner, Dr. David Ferruolo, to resolve a parallel civil matter under which they paid $300,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by improperly billing Medicaid for services provided by an individual (Alonso) excluded from the Medicaid program.