Policy & oversight
Kansas Tech Executive Gets 19 Years for 1 Billion Dollar Medicare Brace Fraud Scheme
A federal judge sentenced Brett Blackman to 19 years in prison this week after a jury found him guilty of operating an internet platform that generated fake doctors' orders for orthotic braces and billed Medicare for more than 1 billion dollars.
By the Goodsurance editorial teamOctober 16, 2026
A federal judge sentenced Brett Blackman, 43, of Johnson County, Kansas, to 19 years in prison on October 14, 2026, for orchestrating a scheme that fraudulently billed Medicare for more than 1 billion dollars in medically unnecessary orthotic braces.
Blackman owned and operated HealthSplash, which acquired the internet platform Power Mobility Doctor Rx, known as DMERx, in 2017. The platform generated false doctors' orders for durable medical equipment, primarily orthotic braces, falsely representing that a physician had examined and treated patients when no meaningful interaction, and in some cases no interaction at all, had occurred. Overseas call centers recruited Medicare beneficiaries. Telemedicine doctors were paid to sign the orders without adequately evaluating patients, and the company paid kickbacks to pharmacies and equipment suppliers to keep business flowing through the platform. Records were also manipulated to evade Medicare audits.
A Kansas company owner receives 19 years in prison for a scheme that billed Medicare more than 1 billion dollars for braces patients did not need.
More than 346,000 Medicare beneficiaries were billed for orthotic braces through the scheme, an average of four braces per person. Medicare paid out approximately 450 million dollars before the fraud was detected.
After a 23-day jury trial, Blackman was convicted in April 2026 on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. A co-defendant, Gary Cox, had been sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2025. The investigation was led by the HHS Office of Inspector General and the FBI.
In plain words
A judge sent Brett Blackman to prison for 19 years. He owned a company that used overseas phone call centers and paid doctors to sign fake orders for knee and back braces. Medicare members did not need those braces. More than 346,000 Medicare members were billed. Medicare paid about 450 million dollars before the scheme was caught. A jury found Blackman guilty in April 2026. Another person in the scheme was already sent to prison for 15 years.
Understand the basics first
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Read at the source →