Sleep Diagnostic Center physician pleads guilty to Medicaid fraud

BREWSTER — A Brewster physician who operates a sleep diagnostic clinic in Moses Lake and Wenatchee will be sentenced March 24 as part of a Wednesday plea deal on Medicaid fraud charges. 

Eric Haeger, 57, was accused of altering devices used to treat sleep disorders that had been recalled, giving them to patients at his clinic, Central Washington Sleep Diagnostic Centers. The clinic then billed Apple Health, the state’s Medicaid provider, for new machines.  

“Beginning at some point no later than July 2021, the defendant began purchasing used Phillips Respironics devices that were subject to the June 2021 recall through various sources,” according to the plea agreement. “Defendant and others under his direction would open the CPAP and BiPAP devices. They would then take steps to remove (components) using screwdrivers, hooks and other tools. The devices were then put back together.”  

The old machines were provided to Apple Health patients, the plea agreement said.  

“Between July 2021 and July 2023, defendant or staff at CWSDC operating at his control and direction, provided at least 20 recalled Phillips Respironics devices to patients,” the plea agreement said. “At the direction of (the) defendant and others, staff at (Hager’s clinics) would then bill the recalled and used devices to Washington state Medicaid with a representation that the device was a new device in good working order and not defective.” 

Haeger bought used devices until April 2023 from an online reseller in Arizona, which said they were sold as used equipment, according to court documents.  

As of now, only Haeger has been indicted in the case, said Courtney Piazza, operations supervisor for the U.S. Court, Eastern District of Washington.  

Haeger faces up to three years in jail and a $250,000 fine, according to the plea agreement. If the agreement is implemented as submitted, Haeger won’t face additional charges, it said.  

Haeger has offices in Wenatchee, Spokane Valley and Brewster as well as Moses Lake. A call to his office asking for a statement had not been returned as of press time. 

The plea agreement cited the cases of four patients who had received the altered devices in 2022, one in May and the other three in November. The clinic submitted bills to Apple Health saying the devices were new. The clinic was paid in all four cases.