A Columbia, Mississippi woman was sentenced to 57 months in prison for defrauding healthcare insurance providers. Joy Beth Harden, 51, pled guilty on August 10, 2021, to executing a scheme to defraud Medicare and other healthcare benefit programs. Specifically, Harden submitted fraudulent bills for durable medical equipment on behalf of her business, BZB LLC doing business as Duracare Home Medical Equipment in the Hattiesburg area. As a result, Medicare and other benefits programs paid Harden for durable medical equipment that was never prescribed for patients and for medical equipment that was never delivered to the patients. United States District Judge Taylor B. McNeel sentenced Harden on April 15, 2022, to serve a term of 57 months in federal prison, followed by a term of 3 years of supervised release. Harden was also ordered to pay full restitution to all of the healthcare insurers she defrauded.
