A New Orleans hospice owner was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to repay $42 million related to a health care fraud scheme.
Shiva Akula, 68, was convicted in November 2023 on 23 counts for overbilling for hospice patients for expensive General Inpatient services and for multiple counts related to manipulating Medicare billing codes despite such services being medically unnecessary or despite their inclusion in the daily hospice benefit his agency was already paid for.
“Shiva Akula showed no regard for quality end-of-life hospice care,” said Jason E. Meadows, Special Agent in Charge at the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Instead, Akula’s motivation centered around multiple fraud schemes to maximize profit and steal from American taxpayers. HHS-OIG will continue to work with our federal and state law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to hold accountable those who steal from Medicare and other federal health care programs.”