Illinois Chiropractor Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison for Insurance Fraud

An Illinois chiropractor was sentenced to 20 months in prison and ordered to repay more than $2.3 million, following convictions on multiple charges related to a scheme to defraud Medicare and twelve other insurance companies, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of Illinois announced.

Carrie Musselman, 48, of Eureka, was sentenced on June 24 after a jury found her guilty of one count of healthcare fraud and five counts of wire fraud.

At the sentencing hearing before Senior U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm, the government presented evidence that Musselman engaged in a multi-year fraud to steal more than $2.5 million from Medicare and other insurance companies.

As part of the scheme, Musselman allegedly submitted fraudulent insurance claims which indicated that services had been performed by medical doctors when they were actually performed by mid-level providers. That resulted in automatic pay increases for Musselman to which she was not entitled.

Musselman allegedly also made claims that falsely asserted patients had received services that were never provided. These claims included purportedly providing patients with allergy injections when no such injections were given. Instead, patients were sent home with oral drops that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, were considered “experimental,” and had not been proven to be effective.

“The submission of false claims undermines the integrity of our federal healthcare system,” said Linda T. Hanley, Special Agent in Charge with the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

The case investigation was conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas F. McMeyer, Bryan D. Freres, and Grace J. Hitzeman represented the government at trial.

Topics Fraud Illinois