Former New Hampshire doctor pleads guilty in $1.9 million Medicare fraud scheme

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former New Hampshire doctor has pleaded guilty to authorizing orders for medically unnecessary knee, wrist and back braces that were used by companies to submit more than $1.9 million in false Medicare claims. Steven Powell of Alpharetta, Georgia, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to one count of health care fraud. He’s scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 30. Prosecutors say he agreed to electronically sign orders for the equipment for companies that submitted the fraudulent claims to Medicare. He received kickbacks for the orders. Medicare paid the equipment providers more than $761,000.