Press Release
Hospice Care Company Owner Sentenced on Health Care Fraud Charges
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Louisiana
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Kristal Glover-Wing, 51, formerly a resident of Broussard, Louisiana, and now living in California, has been sentenced for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud. United States District Judge Robert R. Summerhays sentenced Glover-Wing to 72 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $3,675,948.42 in restitution.
"As federal prosecutors, we must protect the taxpayer dollar by taking cases of Medicare fraud seriously due to the overwhelming number of Americans that rely on such programs to literally survive,” said U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown. “The defendant in this case took advantage of elderly patients for the benefit of her company as opposed to her clients. We believe this is a fair sentence and we will continue to prosecute cases of fraud and corruption by those who seek to unjustly enrich themselves to the detriment of the elderly and federal government.”
“The sentence imposed today is an affirmation of our commitment to protect the integrity of our nation’s health insurance programs from those who illegally profit through their fraudulent activities,” said Special Agent in Charge Jason E. Meadows of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG will continue to work closely with our federal law enforcement partners and bring to justice bad actors who defraud the Medicare program.”
Glover-Wing was convicted by a federal jury of the charges in April 2023 following a nearly four-week trial. Glover-Wing was the owner of Angel Care Hospice (“Angel Care”), a Louisiana corporation that purported to provide hospice services in Lafayette Parish and other parishes in the Western District of Louisiana. Through evidence presented at trial, jurors learned that from approximately 2009 through 2017, over 24 patients were placed on hospice by Angel Care without meeting the criteria required by Medicare.
During the time period that the patients were on hospice and under the care and supervision of Angel Care, none of them had been diagnosed with a terminal condition. In fact, many of the patients themselves, who are still alive and thriving many years later, as well as family members of other patients, testified that they never knew that they had been placed on hospice. One of the patients testified at trial that Medicare refused to cover a procedure he needed to have because unbeknownst to him, he was listed as a hospice patient. Many of these patients thought they were receiving some type of home health or free services, rather than being placed on hospice.
Testimony at trial revealed that while on hospice care, many of the patients were living normal lives and although most of them did have medical conditions, none had been diagnosed as having a terminal condition. Evidence was introduced proving that there were patients who had been on hospice for more than five years and at the time of trial, were still alive.
The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and Federal Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly P. Uebinger, Danny Siefker, and Lauren L. Gardner.
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Updated June 20, 2024
Topic
Health Care Fraud
Component