DALLAS (AP) — Two North Texas businessmen have pleaded guilty to committing health care fraud by making false claims about hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Stanley Thaw of Frisco and Michael Kincaid of Plano appeared in federal court Tuesday to enter their pleas. They operated oxygen therapy companies in Plano, Houston, San Antonio and elsewhere.
Prosecutors say that from 2008 to 2011 the two conspired to defraud Medicare by making fraudulent claims about the treatment. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy requires that a patient be placed in a chamber to receive increased levels of oxygen, meant to boost the healing process.
The 71-year-old Thaw and the 56-year-old Kincaid admitted to billing multiple times for an attending physician who was not present for therapy.
They’re scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 13 and face up to five years in prison.