Iowa psychiatrist turns in medical license over bill-padding allegations

A former Iowa psychiatrist who served prison time for padding his bills to health-insurers has surrendered his medical license.

Richard L. Hauser, 68, practiced psychiatry in Grinnell, Iowa City and Pella, state and federal records show. He surrendered his license last week to settle administrative charges of unethical conduct, which were brought by the Iowa Board of Medicine.

Hauser pleaded guilty in October 2016 to two criminal counts of health-care fraud, and served two months in federal prison this summer.

Federal prosecutors said he often billed Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield and Iowa’s Medicaid program with a billing code for psychotherapy visits lasting 45 to 50 minutes. “In fact, Hauser did not provide more than minimal individual psychotherapy” during the visits, in which he adjusted patients' medications, prosecutors wrote in documents accompanying his plea agreement.

The plea agreement said that after Medicaid officials informed him he was using an incorrect billing code, Hauser continued to submit “up-coded” bills to Wellmark, which is the state’s dominant private health-insurer. Prosecutors said the total amount in question was between $15,000 and $95,000.

Hauser’s lawyer, Gail Brashers-Krug, said Thursday that Hauser has retired and has no intention of attempting to practice medicine again. She stressed that the allegations against him were strictly about billing. “There is no allegation that he in any way was negligent in his patient care,” she said. Brashers-Krug said Hauser practiced psychiatry for nearly 40 years, and focused on pediatric cases.. “He is very proud of the work he has done to help so many children,” she said.

How to check physician records

Discipline records for Iowa physicians are posted on the Iowa Board of Medicine's website. To check on a specific doctor's record, go to medicalboard.iowa.gov, and click on "Find a Physician." Type in the physician's name, then click on "search." On the right side of the screen, a "public discipline" column will show if the doctor has ever been sanctioned. If that column reads "yes," click on the doctor's name, then click on the "details" button to pull up documents describing administrative charges and sanctions.