The Department of Justice withdrew a felony indictment alleging wire fraud against two individuals: the former CEO of two El Paso, Texas-based long-term acute care hospitals and the owner of one of them.
Four things to know:
1. Jose Huerta, the hospital CEO, and Israel Navarro, the owner, were indicted June 25 on charges of wire fraud related to pass-through billing of urine drug tests, according to a July 28 news release — which has been updated to reflect the indictment withdrawal — from the U.S. attorney’s office in the Western District of Texas.
2. The indictment had alleged Mr. Huerta and Mr. Navarro submitted false insurance claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield, indicating that the individuals tested were patients at their hospitals, according to the Justice Department’s news release.
3. Blue Cross’ expert witness and the original assistant U.S. attorney on the case withdrew after Mr. Navarro’s attorneys found Blue Cross’ records provided to the government did not include “data demonstrating that all hospital bills explicitly disclosed the off-campus location of the patients,” according to an Oct. 27 news release from Ryan Downton, Mr. Navarro’s attorney, that was shared with Becker’s.
4. The Justice Department then dismissed, without prejudice, the felony indictment against Mr. Huerta and Mr. Navarro Oct. 21, according to court documents reviewed by Becker’s.
Becker’s has reached out to Mr. Huerta’s attorney and will update this story if more information becomes available. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas does not comment on legal matters, a spokesperson told Becker’s.
