Software CEO convicted for running $1 billion Medicare fraud scheme

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The owner of a healthcare software company was convicted of massive Medicare fraud on Thursday, the Department of Justice said, ending what Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called "one of the most egregious fraud schemes in Florida history."

HealthSplash owner and CEO Brett Blackman, 42, and co-conspirators "aggressively targeted hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries to get them to accept medically unnecessary" products including orthotic braces, according to a DOJ news release.

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Blackman and his co-conspirators used Power Mobility Doctor Rx, LLC, or DMERx, a platform acquired by HealthSplash in 2017, to coordinate illegal kickbacks with telemedicine doctors and pharmacies that would falsely bill Medicare for the unnecessary items, the DOJ said. The fraud was hidden with sham contracts and manipulation of documents.

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Blackman and his co-conspirators billed Medicare and other federal healthcare benefit programs over $1 billion throughout the course of the scheme, the Department of Justice said. Medicare and the other programs paid out more than $450 million.

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Blackman's co-defendant Gary Cox was convicted in June 2025, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Cox was the CEO of DMERx.

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CBS News has been investigating hospice fraud for months. One investigation examined the business and financial records of every hospice currently operating in Los Angeles County, California, applying the same indicators identified by state auditors as potential red flags for fraud. The analysis revealed that over 700 of the roughly 1,800 hospices in L.A. County trigger multiple red flags for fraud as defined by the state LINK.

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