Mariela Panganiban, 48, of Elk Grove, pleaded guilty to conspiring with the owners of home healthcare agencies to pay and receive illegal kickbacks in exchange for Medicare beneficiary referrals. According to court documents, Panganiban worked as the Director of Social Services at a skilled nursing facility in Roseville. In her role, Panganiban assisted Medicare beneficiaries in selecting home healthcare agencies following their discharge from the facility. Panganiban used her position to steer Medicare beneficiaries to home health agencies in Folsom and El Dorado Hills. In exchange for the referrals, the agencies’ owners paid Panganiban illegal cash kickbacks. In her plea agreement, Panganiban admitted that the agencies’ owners paid her kickbacks in exchange for the referral of approximately 100 beneficiaries. Medicare paid the agencies over approximately $735,000 for services they purportedly provided to the beneficiaries. Because the agencies obtained the referrals by paying kickbacks, they should not have received any reimbursement from Medicare.
