A Billion-Dollar Fraud Built on a Software Platform
On May 13, 2026, a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida delivered a decisive verdict: Brett Blackman, 42, of Johnson County, Kansas, the founder and CEO of healthcare software company HealthSplash, was guilty of orchestrating one of the largest Medicare fraud conspiracies in recent memory.
The scheme generated more than $1 billion in fraudulent Medicare billing. Of that, Medicare and other federal health insurance programs actually paid out more than $450 million before investigators caught up with the operation. Sentencing is scheduled for August 26, 2026, where Blackman faces a maximum of 20 years on the primary charge alone.
This wasn’t a small-scale swindle. This was a technology-powered, industrial-scale fraud machine — and its primary targets were American seniors.
What Was HealthSplash?
HealthSplash positioned itself as a legitimate healthcare software company. In September 2017, Blackman’s company acquired Power Mobility Doctor Rx, LLC — also known as DMERx — an internet-based platform designed to generate doctors’ orders for durable medical equipment (DME) and prescriptions for related medical supplies.
Durable medical equipment is a broad category that includes wheelchairs, hospital beds, oxygen equipment, and — crucially to this case — orthotic braces for knees, backs, wrists, and ankles. Medicare covers these items when they are medically necessary and prescribed by a physician who has actually examined the patient.
DMERx, under Blackman’s control, was used to do the opposite: generate doctors’ orders for patients the doctors had never meaningfully examined — and in some cases had never met at all.
How the Scheme Worked: A Step-by-Step Breakdown
The fraud operated through an interconnected network of marketers, telemedicine companies, DME suppliers, and pharmacies.
Step 1: Targeting Seniors Through Call Centers
The operation began with aggressive outbound marketing aimed at Medicare beneficiaries. Blackman and his co-conspirators used foreign call centers to cold-call seniors, pushing them to accept orthotic braces and other equipment — regardless of whether they needed it. Evidence presented at trial included testimony from an undercover federal agent who posed as a Medicare beneficiary and was pressured by a foreign call center to agree to accept multiple braces simultaneously.
Step 2: Routing Through the DMERx Platform
Once a Medicare beneficiary agreed (or was pressured into agreeing), the request was funneled through the DMERx software platform. DMERx connected the marketers with telemedicine companies that had agreed to sign off on orders — in exchange for illegal kickbacks and bribes. These telemedicine providers were paid not to provide genuine medical care, but to use the DMERx platform to generate and sign official-looking doctors’ orders.
The fraudulent orders falsely represented that a licensed physician had examined and treated the Medicare beneficiary. In many cases, the “examination” amounted to a cursory phone interaction. In others, there was no patient contact at all.
Step 3: Billing Medicare for Unnecessary Equipment
Armed with fraudulent prescriptions, DME suppliers and pharmacies billed Medicare and other federal health programs for the cost of the equipment. The claims totaled over $1 billion. Blackman and his co-conspirators took a cut of the referral revenue at each stage of the chain.
Step 4: The Patient Gets Equipment They Don’t Need
Meanwhile, seniors across the country received braces they never requested, never needed, and sometimes never even knew were coming — all billed to Medicare under their names and beneficiary numbers.
The Jury’s Verdict and What Blackman Was Convicted Of
After hearing evidence including the undercover agent’s testimony, wire transfers, platform data, and recorded communications, the jury convicted Blackman on three counts:
- Conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud — up to 20 years in prison
- Conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks — up to 5 years
- Conspiracy to defraud the United States and make false statements in connection with health care matters — up to 5 years
The Department of Justice’s Fraud Division called the scheme “cold, calculated” — a description that reflects the deliberate, systematic nature of using software infrastructure to scale what would otherwise be a manual fraud operation.
Why DME Fraud Keeps Happening
The HealthSplash conviction didn’t happen in a vacuum. Durable medical equipment fraud targeting Medicare is a persistent, multi-billion-dollar epidemic that has proved stubbornly difficult to stamp out.
Medicare lost at least $1.2 billion from telemarketers illegally promoting orthotic braces alone — a figure separate from the HealthSplash scheme. CMS stopped more than $1.5 billion in suspected fraudulent billing in the DME space in the prior year and, in February 2026, announced a six-month moratorium on new Medicare enrollment for certain DME suppliers as a direct fraud-prevention measure.
Why is the DME sector so vulnerable?
- High reimbursement rates make individual claims lucrative
- Telemedicine created new gaps that fraudsters exploited — a doctor can “prescribe” remotely without any meaningful evaluation
- Platform-based operations allow fraudsters to scale quickly, generating thousands of fake orders far faster than traditional schemes
- Seniors are targeted because they are more likely to be Medicare beneficiaries and may not notice phantom billing on their Medicare Summary Notices
What Seniors and Caregivers Should Know
The HealthSplash case illustrates a specific playbook that is still being used by other operations not yet caught. Here is what to watch for:
Red Flags for DME Fraud
- You receive medical equipment — especially braces — that you never ordered and that arrives at your door unexpectedly
- You get a call from someone offering “free” back, knee, or wrist braces covered by Medicare
- A telemedicine provider contacts you and seems focused on getting you to accept equipment, rather than discussing your health
- You see charges on your Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) for items or services you don’t recognize
How to Protect Yourself
Review your Medicare Summary Notice every time one arrives. Medicare mails these quarterly and they list every claim billed in your name. If you see equipment you never received, or services you never had, report it immediately.
Never give your Medicare number to a caller who contacts you first. Legitimate healthcare providers do not cold-call you to offer free equipment.
If you receive unsolicited medical equipment, don’t use it and don’t ignore it. Contact Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to report the delivery.
Contact your State’s Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP). These federally funded programs help beneficiaries detect and report Medicare fraud. Find your local SMP at smpresource.org.
The Bigger Picture
The HealthSplash verdict is the second consecutive week in which the DOJ Fraud Division secured a billion-dollar healthcare enforcement result — a signal of intensified federal focus on large-scale Medicare fraud operations.
For seniors and their families, the takeaway is direct: Medicare fraud is not abstract, and it is not harmless. When fraudsters drain the Medicare trust fund with fake claims, it threatens the sustainability of the program that millions of Americans depend on. And when your Medicare number is used to bill for equipment you never needed, you can face complications with future legitimate coverage.
The HealthSplash scheme succeeded for years because it was designed to look legitimate from the outside — a software company, a telemedicine network, licensed physicians signing orders. The lesson for consumers is that the surface-level legitimacy of a company or a platform is never a guarantee that the care being “provided” is real.
Watch your Medicare statements. Question unsolicited calls and deliveries. And if something doesn’t look right, report it.
