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NFL Players in Health Insurance Fraud

Bending the knee isn’t the only contention facing the NFL; this time, there’s health insurance fraud thrown into the mix. For those that don’t know, health insurance fraud is any act done specifically to defraud the insurance process. If you try to get something from the system you’re not owed (or even when someone denies you a benefit), this is insurance fraud.

lock on a jail cell for nfl insurance fraud
So far, not many of the players are seeing jail time, but that might change in the future.

The most common types in America are premium diversion, fee churning, asset diversion, and fraud involving worker’s compensation. In 2006, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, close to $100 billion was lost in the United States from these cases. That’s a massive number considering only several million was involved in this sports scandal.

Professional sports in America has a reputation for wealthy players, high-stakes games, and sometimes controversial acts. However, in this case, a pretty clear-cut alleged case of fraud surfaced from ten NFL players.

Here’s what we know.

These ten individuals used an HRA plan (more on those here) to receive a payout. The numbers we have so far are that the fraudulent charges total a little under $4 million. From June 2017 to December 2018, their total cut from this plan skimming netted $3.4 million in claims payments.

According to U.S. Attorney Robert M. Duncan Jr., and from the FBI’s evidence, the defendants in this case planned “and executed a fraudulent scheme to undermine a health care benefit plan established by the NFL – one established to help their former teammates and colleagues pay for legitimate medical expenses.”

This is in the East District of Kentucky, and the list of players involved.

Each is Charged with Various Counts of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud/Health Care Fraud 

nfl player with football and insurance fraud
Be wary with the people you work with. Anyone can try to get more than they are owed.
  • Robert McCune, of Riverdale, Georgia
  • John Eubanks, of Cleveland, Mississippi
  • Tamarick Vanover, of Tallahassee, Florida
  • Carlos Rogers, of Alpharetta, Georgia, 
  • Clinton Portis, of McLean, Virginia
  • Ceandris Brown, of Fresno, Texas
  • James Butler, of Atlanta, Georgia; and 
  • Fredrick Bennett, Port Wentworth, Georgia, 
  • Correll Buckhalter,  Colleyville, Texas, and
  • Etric Pruitt, Theodore, Alabama, 

More players will be notified of charges in the future, but these core ten have a more solid sentence awaiting them. It’s unfortunate, but in the healthcare world, both agents and insurance firms must be careful in dealing with everyone, including star athletes.

About The Author: Benepath Blogger

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