An Illinois pediatrician pleaded guilty to charges of health care fraud after improperly billing insurance companies for vaccines that were offered primarily for free.
Jamie S. Warnick, 54, of Decatur, Ill., also agreed to permanently surrender her license to practice medicine in the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.
In November 2009, Warnick was charged with health care fraud, and on May 14, he entered a plea agreement with prosecutors.
At the hearing and in court documents, Warnick admitted that she obtained vaccines, at no cost to her, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control through the Illinois Department of Public Health. The vaccines were meant primarily for children without health insurance and for underinsured children who were not covered for vaccines.
On multiple occasions between 2005 and Oct. 1, 2009, as the sole physician practicing at the Decatur Pediatric Clinic, Warnick admitted to knowingly misapplying some vaccines and encouraging and directing parents of young patients to falsely certify that their children qualified for the free vaccine, even though they were covered through insurance.
Records from insurers indicated a large amount of these vaccines were billed to them by Warnick and paid as if she purchased the immunizations. Other insured individuals never signed a form, but the vaccines were administered to their children and their insurer was billed as if Warnick was the purchaser.
Vaccines for Children (VFC), a federally funded program, provided the vaccines.
Warnick is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 4, where prosecutors will recommend she serve three years of probation, including the first six months under home confinement.
Terms of Warnick’s plea agreement also set the loss to the Illinois Department of Public Health at $63,562, based on the value of the vaccines misapplied by the former pediatrician.
Illinois doctor admits to health fraud, surrenders medical license via IFAwebnews.com .
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