Aquatic therapy fraud
A Boston area woman was sentenced to a year in federal prison and ordered to pay or forfeit almost $128,000.
Dale A. Theberge, 44, of Aquatic Therapy of New England, was sentenced in U.S. District Court on February 1, 2008, three months after she pleaded guilty to fraudulently billing Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts for physical therapy treatments she wasn't licensed to perform, or allowed to charge for.
Theberge could have faced 10 years in federal prison based on the charges.
For nine weeks in 2003, Thebarge submitted fake bills to Medicare and Blue Cross. Theberge is not a licensed physical therapist and didn't have a physical therapist working for her.
Knowing she couldn't charge for the services unless they were done by a licensed physical therapist, Theberge filed the claims as if a former employee had done the work.
Excerpted from Salem News Feb 2, 2008 article by Mike Stucka.
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Sounds like a horrible experience. I have never had to deal with anything of this magnitude, but I understand how difficult it is to get an immovable object (the government) rolling on anything. I'm sorry you had to go through such an ordeal and I appreciate your readership. Good luck!
Posted by: Andrea Salzman | February 27, 2008 at 10:33 AM
WOW. I wish the AG's Office helped me when I called. I had the same thing happen to me.
I spent well of 250K to get my last employer to stop using my provider numbers.
When I called the AG's office,I was told "to add up the billing". If it was a certain amount they would get involved.
Since I could never add up what someone else is doing I had to use my own money! What a State we live in.
Posted by: Kevin | February 19, 2008 at 04:35 PM