Former Central Iowa Psychiatrist Sentenced to Two Months in Prison for Health Care Fraud

DES MOINES, IA – On February 28, 2017, Richard Lee Hauser, M.D., 67, formerly of the Grinnell, Iowa, area was sentenced by Senior United States District Court Judge Robert W. Pratt to two months in federal prison for two counts of health care fraud, announced United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. The two-month sentences were ordered to be served at the same time. Hauser was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term, pay $200 to the Crime Victims’ Fund, and pay a total of $30,879 in restitution to the State of Iowa Medicaid program (Iowa Medicaid) and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa (Wellmark).

Hauser pleaded guilty to these charges on October 19, 2016. According to the plea agreement, from about October 2008 until about August 2013, Dr. Hauser, a psychiatrist licensed to practice in Iowa, oversaw and personally provided services at a clinic in Grinnell, Iowa. The clinic operated under the name Prevention Systems, Inc., and did business as The Hauser Clinic. Beginning by at least November 8, 2011, and continuing to at least on or about December 31, 2012, Dr. Hauser devised a scheme and artifice to obtain, by means of materially false and fraudulent representations, money from the Iowa Medicaid program and Wellmark, in connection with the delivery of and payment for health care benefits and services. As part of this scheme, Dr. Hauser “upcoded” claims, meaning he submitted claims to Iowa Medicaid and Wellmark, misrepresenting the service Hauser provided to certain patients by “coding” for a more expensive service, which was not, in fact, performed. The purpose of “coding” for a more expensive service was to increase the amount of reimbursement The Hauser Clinic would receive from Iowa Medicaid and Wellmark.

This matter was investigated by the State of Iowa Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

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Learn more about this release by calling Rachel J. Scherle at 515-473-9300, or by emailing her at Rachel.Scherle@usdoj.gov