More than 650,000 low income Michiganders got health care coverage under the Medicaid expansion included in the Affordable Care Act
Kathleen Gray/Detroit Free Press
A Macomb County dentist faces Medicaid fraud felony charges after being apprehended by U.S. Marshals in the Dominican Republic last week.
Dr. David Johnson, who fled the country last spring after Attorney General Bill Schuette filed 27 separate felony charges against him, will be arraigned in the coming weeks at the 54B District Court in Ingham County.
The Chesterfield Township dentist, who is being held in Florida, is alleged to have improperly billed $1.7 million over a three-year period while operating a dental practice in Detroit, which he since has sold.
“Medical professionals are expected to conduct themselves with integrity and adherence to the law. A deliberate attempt to take advantage of the Medicaid system shows no regard for the law and violators will face the consequences of their actions,” Schuette, who is running for governor, said in a news release for the case.
“I would like to thank the U.S. Marshals Service for their hard work and dedication to apprehending the alleged offender so that he may face these accusations in a court of law.”
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Johnson, who was convicted of Medicaid fraud over a decade ago, became the subject of an investigation by Schuette’s Health Care Fraud Division after someone reported that the dentist was billing Medicaid using the identifying information of another dentist.
Following his earlier conviction, he had been banned from billing Medicaid.
According to Schuette’s office, Johnson “allegedly used an eligible doctor’s information to improperly bill $1.7 million over the course of three years.”
Johnson is facing charges that include one count of racketeering. a 20-year felony; 20 counts of Medicaid fraud, a 10-year felony; and six counts of health care fraud, a four-year felony.