Lilit Baltaian, MD, a former physician from Porter Ranch, California, has been sentenced to 54 months in prison for her role in a Medicare fraud scheme involving falsified home health certifications and fraudulent billing.
The Department of Justice announced on June 12 that Dr. Baltaian, currently a fugitive, was sentenced in absentia. Between January 2012 and July 2018, she falsely certified patients for home healthcare services provided by at least four Los Angeles-area home health agencies. These agencies used her certifications to submit fraudulent Medicare claims.
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According to federal prosecutors, Dr. Baltaian knowingly presigned blank, undated physician certification forms, which the agencies later falsified to make it seem she had evaluated the patients and found medical justification for home healthcare services. In reality, she had never seen the patients or made any clinical findings.
In return, Dr. Baltaian received cash payments for her referrals while also billing Medicare for signing the fraudulent certifications.
Over the course of the scheme, the four agencies used her false certifications to fraudulently bill Medicare nearly $1.5 million, the Justice Department reported.
Dr. Baltaian pleaded guilty to one count of healthcare fraud in November 2024. Along with her prison sentence, the court ordered her to pay $1.49 million in restitution.
