Dr. Michael Lonski, a Greenwich psychologist, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Hartford to health care fraud.
According to the charges brought against him, Lonski and another licensed psychologist who was only identified as “Individual 1” operated a practice out of his home office in Old Greenwich. The two men were authorized providers for the Connecticut Medicaid program, Medicare and other health care benefit programs. Lonski assumed responsibility for submitting claims for reimbursement for services allegedly provided by himself and by Individual 1, both at their home office and at nursing facilities within Connecticut.
In pleading guilty, Lonski admitted that he intentionally billed insurers for services that were not provided ”“ this included billing for patients who were deceased, for dates of service when he was out of the country, for dates of service when Individual 1 was out of the country, and for dates of service when he was hospitalized. These fraudulent claims resulted in a loss of over $2.65 million, including a loss of $1.15 million to the Connecticut Medicaid program and a loss of $119,092 to Medicare.
This is the second time Lonski ran afoul of the law. In 2002, he agreed to a $4 million settlement of a federal lawsuit alleging health care fraud offenses. As part of that settlement, he was excluded from participating in the Medicare program from April 2003 to November 2007; Lonski was reinstated to the Medicare program in approximately December 2008.
Health care fraud carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and Lonski has agreed to pay full restitution as part of his plea. Lonski is released on bond pending his scheduled sentencing on March 10.
