Feds: Great Neck doctor pleads guilty in Medicare fraud

A Great Neck doctor accused of charging Medicare millions of dollars for procedures he did not perform pleaded guilty Monday to health care fraud in federal court in Central Islip, federal prosecutors said.

Morris Barnard, 58, of Great Neck, submitted more than $3 million in billings to Medicare between October 2015 and February 2020 for colonoscopy and other gastroenterological procedures that were not performed, according to federal prosecutors. Medicare reimbursed approximately $1.4 million of those false claims, authorities said.

Most of the billings indicated that Barnard had rendered services to disabled beneficiaries living in a residential group home.

"By claiming to render services to disabled and other vulnerable patients, Dr. Barnard not only pocketed taxpayer funds that were intended to help beneficiaries in need, he also betrayed his oath for profit," said Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. "We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of taxpayer-funded health care programs."

Barnard’s attorney, Larry Krantz of New York, declined to comment on the case. Barnard is scheduled to return to court on June 10 for sentencing.