HealthSplash founder convicted in Medicare-fraud scheme tied to more than $450 million in federal payments

A federal jury in South Florida has convicted Brett Blackman, the founder and owner of HealthSplash, in a Medicare-fraud conspiracy that prosecutors said used an online platform to generate false doctors’ orders and prescriptions, leading to more than $1 billion in billings and more than $450 million in payments from Medicare and other federal health programs.

Blackman, 42, of Johnson County, Kansas, was convicted May 13 in the Southern District of Florida, according to the Justice Department, which announced the verdict Thursday. Prosecutors said HealthSplash acquired Power Mobility Doctor Rx LLC, known as DMERx, in September 2017. They described DMERx as an internet-based platform that generated false doctors’ orders and prescriptions for durable medical equipment and other items.

According to the Justice Department, the scheme worked by making it appear that doctors had examined and treated Medicare beneficiaries when that had not happened. Doctors were allegedly paid to sign orders with little or no interaction with patients and without documentation of a legitimate in-person exam. Suppliers of durable medical equipment and pharmacies then used those orders to bill Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs.

The jury convicted Blackman of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make false statements in connection with health care matters. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 26. The counts carry maximum penalties of 20 years, 5 years and 5 years, respectively, the Justice Department said.

Federal prosecutors said trial evidence included testimony from an undercover agent posing as a Medicare beneficiary, as well as phone recordings and platform records showing that orders were produced without meaningful contact between patients and doctors. The Justice Department also said some orders were written in a way that implied in-person examinations had taken place when they had not, an effort prosecutors said was meant to avoid audits.

The case centered on DMERx, which prosecutors said was used to generate templated doctor orders that durable medical equipment suppliers and pharmacies could use to seek payment from federal programs. The Justice Department said the broader conspiracy involved foreign call centers, telemarketers, telemedicine companies, durable medical equipment suppliers and pharmacies. Prosecutors said kickbacks or bribes were paid for signed orders, and conspirators profited through referral fees.

The prosecution fits into a broader federal crackdown on fraud schemes involving telemarketing, telemedicine and durable medical equipment. The case grew out of charges brought in 2023. A co-defendant, Gary Cox, was convicted in an earlier trial and later sentenced to 15 years in prison, the Justice Department said.

“The defendant orchestrated a massive telemarketing scheme that used foreign call centers and spam mailers to target our country’s senior citizens and defraud government health care benefit programs,” Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division said in the department’s announcement.

The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the FBI, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.