Henry McInnis, 50, is headed to prison for falsely telling patients they had mere months to live and increasing revenue by enrolling them in hospice programs for which they were not qualified nor needed. US District Judge Rolanda Olvera ordered him to serve a total of 15 years in federal prison. McInnis’s co-conspirator and owner of the hospice and home health entities, Rodney Mesquias, 50, San Antonio, was sentenced earlier to 240 months’ imprisonment. Two others have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. From 2009 to 2018, McInnis, Mesquias and others orchestrated a scheme that involved the submission of over $150 million in false and fraudulent claims for hospice and other healthcare services. McInnis served as the top corporate officer and administrator and oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Merida Group, a large healthcare company that operated dozens of locations throughout Texas.
According to evidence presented at trial, McInnis, Mesquias and Merida Group adopted a strategy to market their hospice programs as providing medical benefits “you don’t have to die to use.” They aggressively enrolled patients with long-term incurable diseases, such as Alzheimers and dementia, as well as patients with limited mental capacity who lived at group homes, nursing homes and in housing projects. In some instances, Merida Group marketers falsely told patients they had less than six months to live. They even sent chaplains to the patients based on the false pretense they were near death. The chaplains would discuss last rites and other preparations for imminent death with the patients. In addition to placing unqualified patients on hospice care, McInnis and his co-conspirators also endeavored to keep patients who did qualify for hospice care alive for as long as possible for their own monetary gain. As CEO, McInnis also adopted a policy that paid illegal kickbacks. They directed bribes to physicians under the guise of medical director fees to certify unqualified patients for hospice and home health. In some cases, they improperly offered payoffs to marketers in exchange for recruitment of patients who could be placed on extremely expensive hospice services.
