NORFOLK, Va. — Dr. Garfield Samuels plead guilty to defrauding the Virginia Medicare and Medicaid Program and was sentenced to three months by a judge in the Norfolk Federal Courthouse on Friday, March 31.
There were about 30 people inside the courtroom to show their support for Dr. Samuels. Some were family members, friends and many patients.
Court records state that between 2017 and 2019, Dr. Samuels was visiting Jamaica on several occasions, but was also submitting claims to Medicaid and Medicare for service.
Nurse practitioner Jan James was one of four people called to testify on his behalf. She told the courtroom that this was a billing error and that Dr. Samuels was actually under billing patients for years.
She said he was constantly treating people for free and helping many uninsured people in the community.
His practice, called Primecare Internal Medicine, was based in Virginia Beach.
The documents state that during a 10-day period in August of 2017, Dr. Samuels was in Jamaica, but submitted 148 claims to Medicare totaling $8,045 and submitted 132 claims to Medicaid totaling $10,870.
It states he submitted claims for in-person, face-to-face evaluation and management codes indicating that he was seeing patients personally in his Virginia Beach Office, but in reality, patients were being seen by nurse practitioners.
There were 872 claims listed in the court records. It states in total, Dr. Samuels submitted fraudulent claims and was wrongly issued $29,453.
He plead guilty in September 2022.
His lawyer, Andrew Sacks said his client was not overtly trying to work the system. He said he was not being meticulous enough and being too careless to the point that it shaded into a fraud offense.
Dr. Samuels spoke to the judge and accepted responsibly for what happened. He thanks his supporters for coming to court. He said at the time when the offense took place he was trying to care for his sick father and not thinking of the rules the way he should have and asked the judge to take into consideration all the good work he has done for the community.
84-year-old James Lalonde said he has been seeing Dr. Samuels for over ten years. "I’ll be 84 this month and he’s kept me going and I’m healthy," he said leaving court. He is very disappointed that he will have to find a new doctor describing Dr. Samuels as a friend. He said it is very difficult to find a doctor that will take you.
"He’s a modern day Robin Hood because he helps a lot of the poor people on Medicare and Medicaid," said another patient who didn't want to be identified, "I can go to the VA. I could go to another prestigious place, but you’re not going to find the same kind of care, the love, the passion."
James described her former boss as a wonderful man who would help anyone.
"We saw everybody and anybody that needed help that couldn’t get care. We wanted to continue doing that but right now we literally can’t," said James. She does not believe the billing issues were the fault of the doctor.
According to the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) estimates for financial losses due to health care fraud are in the tens of billions of dollars each year. On its website, the association states that a conservative estimate is 3% of total health care expenditures. Some government and law enforcement agencies place the loss as high as 10% of our annual health outlay, which could mean more than $300 billion.
They say health care fraud inevitably translates into higher premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for all consumers, as well as reduced benefits or coverage.
The judge acknowledged the information from the supporters, but said there has to be a punishment for the charge. The judge called this a sad case saying the defendant had no criminal history, put himself through school, and came to the United States from Jamaica and became a citizen.
The federal prosecutor asked for 10 months.
The defense asked for home confinement or probation.
The judge ordered three months, to pay back the money, be placed on probation and then do 500 hours of community service.
The attorney asked that Dr. Samuels have some time to get his matters in order, but the judge ordered him to be taken away to jail immediately.
