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Missouri Man Admits Massive Medicare Scam


— May 29, 2025

Jamie P. McNamara pleads guilty to Medicare fraud involving fake genetic testing scheme.


Jamie P. McNamara, a 49-year-old man from Kansas City, Missouri, admitted in court to running a Medicare scam in which he cheated Medicare out of tens of millions of dollars. Over about 18 months, McNamara and his companies submitted more than $174 million in fake medical claims for genetic tests. Medicare paid out over $55 million based on those claims before investigators caught on. He used labs he operated in Louisiana and Texas to pull it off. These labs weren’t following normal medical practices — instead, they worked with call centers and telemarketers to contact Medicare patients, often using pressure tactics to get them to agree to testing they didn’t need.

Patients were told the tests could show if they were at risk for cancer or heart conditions, but these weren’t real medical recommendations. The doctors who supposedly approved the tests never actually treated or even spoke to the patients. They were telemedicine providers who simply signed off on forms without doing proper evaluations. McNamara paid bribes and kickbacks to get those signatures and made it look like these were legitimate business deals by hiding the payments in fake contracts.

To stay under the radar, McNamara moved billing from one lab to another and kept changing names on official paperwork. He listed his family members as owners and company reps to hide that he was the one actually in charge. These steps helped him keep the scheme going while bringing in millions in government money. As part of the case, the government seized luxury cars and bank accounts holding more than $7 million.

Missouri Man Admits Massive Medicare Scam
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

Federal officials made it clear that this kind of fraud takes a real toll. It doesn’t just cost money — it also hurts patients, wastes resources, and damages trust in the health care system. Authorities said McNamara’s plan tricked vulnerable people into believing they were getting meaningful medical help. In reality, the tests gave them no useful information, and the whole thing was designed to pull money from a system meant to help people in need.

This Medicare scam case was handled by investigators from the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services, along with attorneys from the Department of Justice. They said this guilty plea came after a long and detailed investigation. Officials stressed that this is part of an ongoing effort to go after people who steal from Medicare and other government health programs.

While waiting for trial, McNamara made things worse by breaking the rules set by the court. He ran off after a DUI arrest and even removed the ankle monitor he was supposed to wear. That led to him being locked up until his sentencing, which is set for September 9. He now faces up to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud. His actual sentence will depend on the judge, who will take into account federal guidelines and other legal factors.

The Justice Department said that since 2007, its health care fraud task forces have charged more than 5,800 people, with losses totaling more than $30 billion. This shows that McNamara’s Medicare scam case is just one of many, but it’s also a reminder of how much damage one person can do when they treat health care like a way to get rich quick. Medicare is supposed to be a safety net for older Americans and people with serious health conditions. When people lie to get money from it, they put that whole system at risk. That’s why officials say they will keep working to find and stop these kinds of scams.

Sources:

Missouri Man Pleads Guilty to Multimillion-Dollar Medicare Fraud Conspiracy

KC man pleads guilty in multimillion-dollar fraud scheme

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