Adam B. Smith, MD, also known as “Adam Bryant,” has agreed to pay $198,755.42 to the United States and the State of Iowa to resolve allegations that he billed government health insurance programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, for medically unnecessary procedures and for procedures more complicated than those he performed. In its Complaint, the government alleged that, from August 2014 until August 2019, Smith was practicing as a plastic surgeon in Sioux City in association with Tri-State Specialists, LLP. During that time, the government alleged, Smith engaged in a scheme to overcharge government healthcare programs by falsely claiming that cosmetic procedures he performed were medically necessary and that the medically necessary procedures he billed for were more complicated (and more highly compensated) than what he performed. Cosmetic procedures are generally not covered by Medicare or Medicaid.
In February 2021, Smith pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement relating to a healthcare matter, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1035(a), in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. As part of his plea, Smith acknowledged that he had falsely described a cosmetic procedure as medically necessary and reimbursable by Medicare while he was practicing medicine in Traverse City, Michigan from May 2011 to January 2014. Smith voluntarily surrendered his South Dakota medical license in 2019 and his Iowa medical license in 2021. The United States entered into a settlement agreement with Smith’s employer, Tri-State Specialists, LLP, in December 2021, resolving the same allegations for $612,501.44.
