By: Sam T. Jensen — [email protected]
Webster City, IA — A Webster City man will be serving two months in prison for making false statements on Medicare claims.
Dr. Joseph X. Latella, 76, pleaded guilty to the charges and agreed to pay more than $316,000 in restitution.
Latella is a physician who operated a private practice in Webster City and served as medical director for area nursing homes. Prosecutors say he falsely declared he spent more time with patients than he actually had. This was to qualify for more expensive billing in Medicare and Medicaid.
In a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Iowa, Latella admitted between January 1st 2014 and November 30th 2018, he submitted more than 1,100 false claims to Medicare and was paid approximately $108,000 by Medicare for those claims.
As part of a plea agreement, Latella agreed to make payments towards the balance and was ultimately sentenced to two months in prison.