Ohio Chiropractor to Plead Guilty to $696K Insurance Fraud

A suburban Columbus, Ohio, chiropractor has agreed to plead guilty in federal court to defrauding health insurance companies for nearly $700,000.

The Columbus Dispatch reports 44-year-old Jeffrey Shope is charged with overbilling health insurance companies by $696,373 from 2009 through 2012 at True Health Chiropractic. A message left at Shope’s office wasn’t immediately returned.

Prosecutors say Shope billed insurers for non-reimbursable services either not provided or not fully provided over the four-year period. He also is accused of double-billing insurers for identical services.

The Westerville resident is expected to plead guilty Sept. 29 in U.S. District Court and could be sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $250,000.

The Ohio State Chiropractic Board wouldn’t say if it was investigating Shope.