El Paso hospital CEOs allegedly committed insurance fraud, indicted on federal charges
Aaron Martinez – El Paso Times
- Two El Paso hospital CEOs, Jose Huerta and Israel Navarro, were indicted on charges of fraud for allegedly filing false insurance claims.
- The CEOs are accused of a “pass-through healthcare billing” scheme, falsely claiming $16 million in urine drug tests for non-existent patients.
- Both Huerta and Navarro have been released on bond after surrendering to the FBI.
Two El Paso hospital CEOs turned themselves in to the FBI after they were charged with fraud for making false insurance claims, authorities said.
Jose Huerta, 58, and Israel Navarro, 47, were indicted June 25 on one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Justin R. Simmons announced in a news release.
The men’s attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.
Huerta is the chief executive officer for two long-term acute care hospitals in El Paso. Navarro owned one of the hospitals and “was financially connected to the other,” the news release states.
Navarro, who resides in Puerto Rico and in the Dallas area, voluntarily surrendered to FBI El Paso agents and made his initial appearance on July 22 before a federal magistrate, the news release states. He was released from jail on a $150,000 bond.
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Huerta surrendered to FBI El Paso agents on July 23 and made his initial appearance July 24. He was released from jail on a $50,000 bond.
Huerta and Navarro are facing up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count if convicted.
The FBI and Texas Department of Insurance are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof is prosecuting the case.
Jose Huerta, Israel Navarro allegedly made false insurance claims
The men are accused of defrauding insurance companies by using “pass-through health care billing,” the news release states.
Huerta and Navarro “conspired together and with others to knowingly devise a scheme to engage in illegal pass-through billing of urine drug tests (UDTs),” the news release states.
Court records do not show any other co-defendants indicted in the case.
The hospitals run by the men allegedly submitted false insurance claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield, claiming medical staff had conducted tests on patients in their hospitals. The patients were not real patients, the news release states.
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The insurance claims falsely said that urine drug test samples were taken from the patients and forwarded to a lab in the Dallas area, the news release states.
“None of this was true,” the news release states.
Huerta and Navarro allegedly submitted $16 million in claims over a six-month period for the laboratory testing. The actual loss to Blue Cross Blue Shield attributed to the alleged fraud scheme totals more than $12 million, the news release states.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on X/Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
