He ran one of the most 'brazen and egregious' health care frauds in RI. Now he's going to prison.
PROVIDENCE – The owner of addiction recovery centers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts has agreed to admit to conspiring to defraud health insurers out of millions of dollars while depriving as many as 1,800 patients of crucial opioid treatment services.
Michael Brier, 61, of Newton, Massachusetts, the CEO of Recovery Connection Centers of America, has agreed to plead guilty to health care fraud for defrauding insurers out of more than $3.5 million by falsely submitting claims for 45-minute counseling sessions that, in fact, lasted mere minutes, court documents show.
In exchange, federal prosecutors will recommend that he be sentenced to 6 to 10 years in prison. He must forfeit assets worth $3.6 million, including a Lexus and Mercedes, as well as a condominium in Panama. Counts of aggravated identity theft, money laundering and obstruction will be dismissed.
Brier will also admit to failing to disclose to federal and state authorities that he was convicted of tax evasion in 2013 and sentenced to 27 months in prison for failing to accurately report his income and failing to pay some $400,000 in taxes while working as a tax preparer. If he had done so, authorities would not have approved the licenses.
Supervisor at the center also admits to fraud
Mi Ok Song Bruining, 63, of Warwick, a clinical social worker and supervisor at the centers, in November admitted to helping execute the scheme that shortchanged substance abuse disorder patients of treatment services while, at the same time, defrauding Medicare, Medicaid, and other health insurers, U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha’s office announced last fall.
Bruining was known as the “5-minute queen” for the speed in which she funneled patients through the “drive-by” counseling system. She and Brier imposed a strict policy that counselors see clients for no longer than 15 minutes.
Bruining directed counselors to record in their notes that they had provided a 45-minute counseling session, but not list "a.m." or "p.m." for the start time to mask that they were seeing more patients than possible within a single hour. She also instructed counselors to copy and paste the previous visit’s notes to make the bill look complete.
More: 'You should have kept your mouth shut': Inside an alleged health care fraud brought down by FBI
Recovery Connection Centers of America itself has also agreed through a court-appointed receiver to admit to conspiring to commit health-care fraud. In exchange, federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend a years’ probation.
Center billed insurers for more hours than there are in a day
Opened in 2018, Recovery Connection was headquartered at 381 Wickenden St., Providence, with an office in Pawtucket and a dozen other locations in Massachusetts, including Attleboro and Worcester. About half of its 1,800 patients are Rhode Island residents, federal prosecutors said.
Authorities alleged Recovery Connection billed Medicare, Medicaid and other insurers for services it never provided its patients.
The company submitted claims for full, 45-minute counseling sessions when patients received only a few minutes of counseling and treatment, sometimes for periods so short that they never sat down.
Brier and his company were accused of billing Medicare and other insurance providers for more psychotherapy hours than existed in the day. On one occasion, Recovery Connection billed taxpayers for 38 patients all receiving 45-minute sessions in one day — for a total of 28.5 hours.
One former employee was allegedly equipped with a bell that they would ring to ensure that patients moved briskly along.
Brier has remained free on a $10,000 unsecured bond since his arrest in March 2023.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Recovery Connection Centers of America CEO pleads guilty to fraud
