GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County couple is speaking out after they said they were victims of an alleged medical identity theft scheme involving millions of dollars.
"I felt sick, I did. I couldn't sleep for days. It wasn't just me, it was my husband," Amanda Wingert told Channel 2's Rachel Stockman.
The Wingerts showed Stockman bill after bill that nurse practitioner Daphne Patterson is accused of charging their insurance company, United Healthcare, totaling more than $200,000.
Amanda Wingert said she saw Patterson once for an ear infection while she was employed at a doctor's clinic in Norcross.
Wingert believes that is when the Stone Mountain woman stole her family's medical identity.
"(There was) over $150 ,000 charged just for me, and I never saw her," said her husband, Matt Wingert.
The Wingerts said Patterson went on to charge their insurance for office visits and allergy testing which was never performed.
"You lose part of your identity, your safety. All of it, going to the doctor's office. I have insecurity," Amanda Wingert said.
Federal agents said Patterson ran Healthier 4 U Wellness Center in Stone Mountain. The business advertises services like weight loss, hormone therapy and allergy testing.
According to a federal indictment, Patterson billed about $2.2 million to health insurance companies for various allergy tests and treatment that she never performed.
Agents said she received about $1 million.
She is accused of fraudulently billing insurance companies including Aetna, Humana, Blue Cross Blue Shield and United.
"The patient might not know the insurance company was being charged for this," former federal prosecutor Bob Brennan said.
Brennan said the alleged scheme could affect hundreds, if not thousands, of people's personal information.
"Medical identity theft is (a) very fast-growing crime," Brennan said.
It is not clear in the indictment how Patterson obtained the patients' personal information.
Patterson entered a not guilty plea and is due back in court on March 11.
WSBTV
