Kansas CEO Flaunted Wealth While Stealing from Seniors

Brett Blackman, 42, of Johnson County, Kansas, ran a healthcare software company called HealthSplash. He also apparently ran one of the largest Medicare fraud operations in American history.

A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida convicted him on May 14, 2026. The charges: conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

He faces up to 20 years on the fraud counts, plus an additional five years on the remaining charges. Sentencing is set for August 26.

How the Scheme Actually Worked

This wasn't sloppy billing errors. It was a purpose-built fraud machine.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice press release, Blackman and his co-conspirators used a platform called DMERx — acquired by HealthSplash in 2017 — to coordinate the entire operation. Overseas call centers cold-called Medicare beneficiaries and pushed them to order orthotic braces and other durable medical equipment they didn't need and never asked for.

Then came the paperwork laundering. Telemedicine doctors were paid kickbacks to sign off on fake prescription orders — documents that claimed a physician had examined the patient when, according to the DOJ, the doctor had little or no actual interaction with them.

When a federal undercover agent posed as a Medicare beneficiary, the agent was connected to one of these overseas call centers. Representatives pushed the agent to accept multiple braces. A doctor's note was later generated claiming the physician had conducted tests on the agent. The agent and the doctor never met, according to the DOJ.

The fraud was concealed through sham contracts and document manipulation, as CBS News reported.

Blackman and his co-conspirators billed Medicare and other federal programs over $1 billion total. The programs actually paid out more than $450 million before the scheme was dismantled.

The Man Behind the Scheme Wasn't Hiding

Blackman wasn't exactly laying low. The DOJ released a photo of him wearing a gold fedora, gold-tinted glasses, and a chain with an oversized dollar sign pendant. They also posted an aerial photo of a waterfront mansion Blackman featured in a music video.

This man was billing Medicare for fake braces for sick elderly people and celebrating it on camera.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called it "one of the most egregious fraud schemes in Florida history" and described it as "cold, calculated, industrial-scale theft targeting the sick and elderly."

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division was blunt: Blackman "orchestrated a massive telemarketing scheme that used foreign call centers and spam mailers to target our country's senior citizens."

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones put it plainly: "This was NOT health care. It was a billion-dollar fraud machine."

What Mainstream Coverage Is Missing

CBS News covered the facts competently. Credit where it's due — they included the key numbers, the undercover agent detail, and Blackman's sentencing date.

Breitbart used the conviction to score points for the Vance-led anti-fraud task force. This case was built over years by career DOJ prosecutors and federal investigators — not launched by a February 2025 State of the Union speech.

Both outlets largely overlooked the $450 million actually paid out versus the $1 billion billed. Nearly half a billion dollars still walked out the door after fraud detection caught some of the scheme. The gap matters for understanding how much money escaped before the operation was dismantled.

Also underreported: the role of telemedicine platforms as fraud infrastructure. DMERx was a software tool specifically designed to generate and manage physician orders. Blackman didn't just exploit a loophole — he built a product that industrialized it. Similar platforms may be operating the same way right now.

The Real Stakes

Medicare fraud isn't a victimless white-collar crime. Real seniors were pressured by foreign call center workers into accepting equipment they didn't want or need. Their Medicare numbers were used without meaningful consent. Doctors signed off on exams that never happened.

Every dollar stolen from Medicare is a dollar taken from taxpayers and from a program millions of elderly Americans depend on to survive.

The federal government loses an estimated $60 to $90 billion per year to Medicare fraud, according to the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association. Blackman's $1 billion scheme is a symptom, not an anomaly.

Blackman gets his sentencing hearing August 26. He's looking at decades behind bars.

How many more Brett Blackmans are still billing Medicare remains unclear.