NC physician faces 18 months in prison for healthcare fraud

STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) – Federal authorities say a North Carolina doctor will spend 18 months in prison after bilking Medicaid and Medicare with inflated bills for patient care he didn’t perform.

Wayne Vincent Wilson was sentenced Monday after being convicted of pocketing $210,000 in fraudulent claims to his Hickory family practice.

Federal prosecutor Jill Westmoreland Rose’s office says the 55-year-old physician padded his Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement claims because he believed the federal health programs didn’t pay him enough. Prosecutors say court records show Wilson sometimes added non-existent services or billed for office visits that never happened.

Wilson pleaded guilty to two counts of health care fraud in October.

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