East Meadow chiropractor sentenced for insurance fraud

An East Meadow chiropractor has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for health care fraud. Adamczak had billed a private insurance company over $1 million for services that were never performed, according to the U.S. Attorney Eastern District New York.

Peter Adamczak, 66, from Huntington, pleaded guilty to $1 million in health care fraud last August. As part of his sentence, he was ordered to pay nearly $1 million in restitution and forfeit $180,000.

“Today’s sentence demonstrates that Adamczak’s long-running scheme, in which he brazenly submitted false and fraudulent billing claims to an insurance provider, ultimately came at a personal cost to the defendant,” said United States Attorney Breon Peace. “This Office will continue to hold accountable dishonest healthcare professionals who abuse the trust placed in them by lying and cheating in order to line their own pockets.”

An investigation that took place from 2016 to 2020 found that Adamczak submitted over $1 million in fraudulent claims for reimbursement to a private insurance company. He was not licensed to perform acupuncture, but he claimed that the services were done by an unaffiliated acupuncturist who leased office space from him. None of the services were ever provided, but the fraudulent claims resulted in the private insurance company making payment to its beneficiaries, who then delivered the payments to Adamczak.

“Health insurance fraud is not a victimless crime as it increases the cost of coverage for those who need it most and wastes precious medical resources,” said Lucy Lang, New York State inspector general. “I want to thank the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace for delivering justice on this case and to the OIG staff who worked on exposing this audacious scheme.”

A news release stated that one of the beneficiaries was a relative of Adamczak who deposited the reimbursement checks to their personal bank account and kept the funds.