DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Seniors are sounding the alarm about a Delray Beach business, accusing it of billing Medicare in their name, for medical equipment they didn’t need.
After hearing from multiple seniors from across the country, WPTV uncovered a larger pattern of questionable Medicare bills.
Mike and Connie Parrett are in good health.
“I hadn't even been to a doctor for anything,” said Connie Parrett.
When an explanation of benefits from Medicare arrived at the Parretts’ Fort Myers home in March in Connie’s name, she was confused.
“I thought maybe we opened the wrong person's mail, and I saw my name was on it,” she said.
The EOB detailed $1,759 billed to Medicare, for medical equipment Connie said she didn’t need.
“We didn't think too much about it. It was only $1,000. Thought it was a mistake,” Connie said. “But then, when we got the second one for over $5,000, then we realized this could be a pattern.”
Two weeks after the first EOB arrived, a second one showed up.
All told, Connie’s Medicare was billed for back braces, wrist braces and multiple glucose monitors, totaling $5,130. Medicare paid about $2,400 of it.
"I don't think this is right. This is not ours because [Connie] doesn't have diabetes and arthritis or anything,” Mike said.
The remaining balance was billed to the Parretts' secondary insurance, which Mike said the company declined to pay because they considered the charge suspicious.
Around the same time, a similar scenario was playing out in the mountains of western Pennsylvania.
State
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“I jog. I ride a bicycle up and down the mountains,” said Nancy Kubas, speaking with WPTV via video call from her home in the tiny borough of Stoystown. “There is not, there's not— absolutely nothing wrong with me.”
Kubas’ Medicare account was also billed for multiple braces she said she didn’t need.
The total was also $5,130.
“How can this be happening? There must be something going on that someone is not aware of,” Kubas said.
The same company appeared on the EOBs for Parrett and Kubas: Sunshine Senior Solutions.
A Google search reveals the Delray Beach-based business has only one-star reviews—more than 200 of them—many complaining about what the reviewers call fraudulent charges to Medicare.
Many also cite that familiar amount: $5,130.
Both Kubas and the Parretts said they called Medicare’s fraud line to report Sunshine Senior Solutions.
“[The representative] said, 'Well, it could take a year to two years for this to be resolved,’” Parrett told WPTV.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services couldn’t confirm or deny any ongoing investigations, but a spokesman said investigations take time because they can be large, complex, and face the long timelines that come with due process.
"I was hoping someone—they would send someone today, right over to that facility and find out what's going on,” Kubas said.
The phone number on Sunshine Senior Solutions' website, Google listing, and business filings led to a voicemail for a woman named Sherrie.
After a voicemail went unreturned, WPTV visited Sunshine Senior Solutions.
Inside an office building on Linton Boulevard, a paper sign that says “SUNSHINE SENIOR SOLUTIONS” is taped is taped to the door of a fourth-floor suite.
A woman answered the door and identified herself as an employee of Sunshine Senior Solutions. She was unable to answer questions about the functions of the company or her job, telling WPTV, “I’m just a follower. I just do the paperwork.”
The woman was not familiar with the term “durable medical equipment,” and would not identify who was in charge. She said she did not know who Sherrie was, despite directing WPTV to call the same phone number.
Business records filed with the Florida Secretary of State’s office show Sunshine Senior Solutions was founded in April 2020. During its five years of existence, business records show a rotating carousel of leadership—mainly back and forth between its founder and other individuals.
WPTV called every phone number associated with this group of people, but never heard back.
The company’s current authorized member doesn’t appear to have a Florida address, according to public records. However, records show the founder of Sunshine Senior Solutions lives in Delray Beach.
Business filings show she removed and re-instated herself three times as an authorized board member, most recently removing herself last November.
WPTV is not publishing the founder’s name because she hasn’t been charged with a crime. However, in 2023, someone with the same name signed a court document identifying themselves as the girlfriend of a man charged with a Medicare-related fraud.
That individual, Victor Van Vickery, is currently serving a federal prison sentence in South Carolina after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. WPTV requested an interview with Vickery, but did not receive a response.
In court documents, the government alleged Vickery and two unidentified co-conspirators bilked Medicare out of more than $10.5 million by fraudulently billing for durable medical equipment.
Vickery’s name does not appear in any business filings for Sunshine Senior Solutions.
According to CMS, there is no way to precisely measure the amount of Medicare fraud committed, but estimates show that abuse of federal health care programs can cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
Amy Nofziger, director of fraud and victim support at AARP’s Fraud Watch Network, strongly advises people with Medicare or private insurance to consistently check and hold onto their explanations of benefits, which will come in handy if federal investigators get involved.
"If someone is calling you unsolicited, saying that your doctor recommended, you know, a back brace or a knee brace, and they just need your Medicare number to ship it out to you—I mean, that's a huge red flag. Hang up the phone immediately,” Nofziger said.
Nofziger said the Fraud Watch Network’s helpline received about 100,000 phone calls reporting potential fraud.
If you suspect Medicare fraud, you can report it to Medicare and AARP. Complaints to AARP get forwarded to the Federal Trade Commission.
"We need empowered consumers to report these crimes,” Nofziger said.
