BUSINESS AS USUAL: James Healthcare & Associates Settles Medicare Fraud Claims for $75,000—But Keeps Patients in the Dark
An Investigative Report by The Hindenburg Papers
I. INTRODUCTION: The Sounds of Silence—and a Settlement
In the small Mississippi River town of Keokuk, Iowa, the doors of James Healthcare & Associates remain open. The lights are on. The phones are answered. And according to a press release issued just last week, Dr. Jason James is still very much in business—encouraging families to “reset their bodies” as they prepare for the back-to-school season.
What the press release does not mention is the federal settlement they signed just months ago. It does not mention the millions of dollars in alleged fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare. It does not mention that the settlement explicitly does not resolve the majority of their fraudulent billing—leaving the government still pursuing overpayments for claims filed after September 2016. And it certainly does not mention that the clinic’s co-owner and office manager, Deanna James, is a convicted felon—a woman who once called in a bomb threat to her own workplace.
While the Jameses continue to market their services as if nothing has happened, a newly uncovered settlement agreement, obtained by The Hindenburg Papers, reveals the true extent of their misconduct—and their desperate attempts to sweep it under the rug.
II. THE SETTLEMENT BOMBSHELL: What They Settled—And What They Didn’t
On April 28, 2025, Jason James, Deanna James, and James Healthcare & Associates Inc. signed a Settlement Agreement with the United States Department of Justice and the Office of Inspector General (OIG-HHS) to resolve a fraction of their fraudulent Medicare billing.
The agreement, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (Case 4:23-cv-00221), reveals the following damning facts:
The Scheme: Between July 2016 and September 2018, the clinic submitted 188 claims to Medicare for a device called the “P-Stim”—a disposable electro-acupuncture device that costs just $667 to purchase. The device is affixed behind a patient’s ear with an adhesive. It requires no surgery.
But the Jameses did not bill it as an acupuncture device. Instead, they used HCPCS Code L8679—a code intended exclusively for “implantable neurostimulator, pulse generator” devices that surgeons implant into patients, typically in an operating room. The reimbursement rate for this code is approximately $6,000 per claim—a markup of nearly 800%.
The settlement agreement states explicitly: “Defendants did not perform surgery and did not implant anything into their patients’ bodies.” The P-Stim device was simply taped behind the ear with adhesive.
The Settlement: The Jameses agreed to pay the United States **$75,000**—of which $50,000 is characterized as restitution. Additionally, they agreed to forfeit approximately **$26,893** in Medicare payments that had been suspended by CMS, bringing the total financial hit to just over $100,000.
The Catch—And It’s a Big One: The settlement only resolves claims submitted from July 6, 2016, to September 2, 2016—a mere two-month window out of a scheme that lasted over two years.
The agreement explicitly states: “This agreement does not resolve any of the L8679 claims Defendants submitted for dates of service after September 2, 2016, and which are subject to a CMS overpayment demand.”
That means the vast majority of the fraudulent claims—the ones that allegedly netted the clinic millions—remain unresolved. CMS is still pursuing overpayment demands. The federal government is still investigating. And yet, the Jameses are still in business, treating patients, and issuing press releases as if none of this ever happened.
The “No Admission” Clause: As is standard in such settlements, the agreement states that it is “neither an admission of liability by the Defendants, nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded.” In other words, the government is not conceding that the Jameses are innocent—and the Jameses are not admitting they are guilty. They simply paid the money to make this specific slice of the case go away.
But for patients and taxpayers, the math doesn’t add up. The government alleges that the Jameses systematically defrauded Medicare of millions. They settled the first two months of the scheme for $75,000. The rest remains unresolved. And in the meantime, the clinic continues to operate as if it has been fully exonerated.
III. THE FRAUD UNPACKED: A $667 Device Billed as a $6,000 Surgery
The mechanics of the scheme are chilling in their simplicity—and their audacity.
The P-Stim device is a legitimate, FDA-cleared product used for electro-acupuncture. It costs healthcare providers approximately $667 to purchase. It is applied in an office setting: needles are inserted into the patient’s ears, and the neurotransmitter is taped behind the ear with adhesive. The entire procedure takes minutes.
Medicare, however, does not reimburse for electro-acupuncture devices as neurostimulators. In fact, during the time the claims were submitted, Medicare did not reimburse for acupuncture at all. The Jameses knew this—which is why they used the surgical implant code instead.
The settlement agreement reveals that the government contends the Jameses “knowingly violated the False Claims Act” by causing the submission of these claims. The most damning piece of evidence, previously reported by The Hindenburg Papers, is a text message Jason James sent to a P-Stim sales representative on June 15, 2016, when he was first contemplating using the devices. He asked: “Is there a limit on how many Neurostims can be done on one day? Don’t wanna do so many that gives Medicare a red flag on first day. Thanks.”
That single message reveals a man who knew exactly what he was doing—and was more concerned about getting caught than about the legality or ethics of his actions.
IV. DEANNA JAMES: The Convicted Felon at the Center of It All
While Jason James faces allegations of Medicare fraud, his wife and co-owner, Deanna James, brings her own disturbing criminal history to the clinic she manages.
Deanna James is a convicted felon. Her crime? False reporting—specifically, calling in a bomb threat to her own workplace.
Let that sink in. This is not a victimless crime. This is not a simple misunderstanding or a bureaucratic error. This is a deliberate act of terror—one designed to create panic, force evacuations, disrupt operations, and trigger a full-scale emergency response. When someone calls in a bomb threat, police, fire crews, and sometimes even bomb squads are dispatched. Streets are cordoned off. Businesses shut down. Employees are herded outside, terrified and confused, not knowing if they are about to die. Taxpayer dollars are wasted on the emergency response. And the perpetrator—in this case, Deanna James—sits back and watches the chaos unfold.
The question that demands asking is: who calls in a bomb threat to their own place of employment?
This is not the act of a rational person making a simple mistake. This is calculated deception—a desperate attempt to manipulate a situation for personal gain or to avoid exposure. When someone calls in a bomb threat to their own workplace, it raises a disturbing question: what were they trying to cover up?
Was Deanna James trying to destroy evidence? Was she attempting to buy time to conceal something incriminating? Was she hoping that the chaos of an evacuation would allow her to slip away unnoticed, destroy documents, or tamper with patient records and billing files before anyone could discover what she was hiding? Was she trying to create a diversion so she could delete incriminating emails, shred paper trails, or alter financial ledgers?
The timing and context matter. Deanna James was not just any employee—she was the office manager and co-owner of a healthcare practice that, according to federal investigators, was systematically defrauding Medicare of millions of dollars. She oversaw business operations, managed the staff, and was intimately involved in the clinic’s billing practices. She was the one keeping the books. She was the one overseeing the submission of claims. And she was the one who thought it was acceptable—or necessary—to call in a bomb threat to her own workplace.
Calling in a bomb threat to your own workplace is not just a crime—it is a window into a mindset. It suggests someone who believes they are above the law. Someone who thinks they can manipulate situations to their advantage. Someone who is willing to endanger the lives of coworkers and first responders to protect themselves. It suggests a pattern of deception and a willingness to take extreme measures when backed into a corner.
And yet, despite this felony conviction, Deanna James continues to serve as the clinic’s office manager and co-owner. She continues to oversee business operations. She continues to interact with patients—vulnerable people who trust her with their health and their personal information. The settlement agreement signed on April 28, 2025, bears her signature right alongside her husband’s.
The federal government is still pursuing overpayment demands for the remaining claims. The Jameses still face potential exclusion from federal healthcare programs. And at the center of it all—managing the office, overseeing the billing, running the day-to-day operations, and signing settlement agreements with the Department of Justice—is a convicted felon who once thought it was acceptable to call in a bomb threat to her own workplace.
V. THE HUMAN TOLL: Victims Left Dead or Destitute
The fraud did not stop at improper billing. It metastasized into a systematic pattern of patient exploitation that has destroyed lives.
One anonymous source described how her mother was lured to James Healthcare in 2015 with promises that sounded too good to be true. The clinic told her they would take her off all her diabetes medication—a claim that directly contradicted the standard of care for a disease that runs in the source’s family. The mother passed away in 2022 from kidney failure brought on by uncontrolled diabetes. While a direct causal link to James Healthcare’s advice is difficult to prove, the source is unequivocal: “They gave her false hope and dangerous guidance. She trusted them, and she paid with her health, and eventually her life.”
Another source provided an even more harrowing account: a 67-year-old diabetic patient who had a permanent port for dialysis—a woman already fighting for her life, living in senior housing on a fixed Social Security income. James Healthcare had this vulnerable patient sign a form obligating her to $6,000 in credit—a sum that, for someone in her circumstances, might as well have been a million dollars. “She did not make enough in social security to pay her bills,” the source wrote. “She was depressed and anxious due to threatening phone calls.”
And remember: the settlement agreement explicitly states that the Jameses “waive and shall not seek payment for any of the health care billings covered by this Agreement from any health care beneficiaries.” That suggests that, prior to the settlement, they were seeking payment from patients—adding insult to injury for people who were already victims of the scheme.
VI. THE PR DAMAGE CONTROL: Marketing Instead of Accountability
On August 12, 2026, James Healthcare & Associates issued a press release through PRUnderground with the headline: “James Healthcare & Associates Says Back-to-School Is the Time to Reset Your Body, Too.”
The release presents Dr. Jason James as a caring practitioner with 25 years of experience, offering Gonstead chiropractic care, neuropathy treatment, medical weight loss, hormone therapy, and cold laser therapy. It quotes Dr. James saying: “I see people every fall who have been brushing off stiffness for weeks, and then one morning they cannot get out of bed. These problems usually don’t appear overnight.”
What the press release does not address:
- The federal settlement signed just four months earlier, on April 28, 2025
- The 188 false claims submitted to Medicare
- The fact that the settlement only resolved claims from a two-month period—leaving the vast majority of the fraudulent claims unresolved
- The CMS overpayment demands still pending for the remaining claims
- The convicted felon co-owner who called in a bomb threat to her own workplace
- The patients who say they were financially ruined or left dead
This is not a mea culpa. This is not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing. This is not an effort to make things right with the patients who have been harmed. This is business as usual—and the settlement agreement proves they have been doing this for years, knowing exactly what they were doing.
VII. THE PATTERN: A History of Deception
This is not the first time Jason James has faced consequences for fraudulent behavior.
In 2015, the Iowa Board of Chiropractic charged James with fraudulent representations about a diabetes diet program. He was disciplined and agreed to pay a $500 penalty and complete 10 hours of education in marketing and ethics.
But the pattern continued. The federal government filed its civil lawsuit in June 2023. The settlement in April 2025 resolved only the first two months of the scheme. The government is still pursuing overpayment demands for the remaining claims. And yet, through it all, the clinic remains open, accepting new patients and continuing to bill for services.
VIII. THE RESPONSE WE’VE RECEIVED: Over 80,000 Views and Counting
Since we published our initial investigations into James Healthcare & Associates, the response has been overwhelming. Our previous articles have garnered over 80,000 views, and we have received numerous emails from individuals sharing their own complaints and experiences with the practice.
Patients have reached out to describe:
- Billing for services never rendered
- Pressure to sign up for expensive treatment plans
- Dismissive and unresponsive staff
- Financial exploitation of elderly and vulnerable patients
- A culture of intimidation that discourages speaking out
The volume and consistency of these complaints paint a clear picture: this is not a few isolated incidents. This is a systemic pattern of behavior that has been allowed to continue for years—and the settlement agreement confirms it.
IX. CONCLUSION: Accountability Cannot Be Marketed Away
James Healthcare & Associates can issue all the press releases they want. They can talk about back-to-school spinal health and the importance of “resetting your body.” They can hope that patients don’t read the fine print of the settlement agreement they signed. But no amount of marketing spin can erase the facts:
- A federal settlement signed on April 28, 2025, resolving only the first two months of a fraudulent billing scheme that lasted over two years
- 188 false claims submitted to Medicare for a $667 device billed as a $6,000 implantable neurostimulator
- The settlement explicitly does not resolve the claims submitted after September 2, 2016—meaning CMS is still pursuing overpayment demands for the majority of the fraud
- A co-owner and office manager who is a convicted felon—having called in a bomb threat to her own workplace
- Patients left financially ruined
- At least two patients who, according to sources, are dead
- A history of disciplinary actions dating back to 2015
- A complete failure to address the concerns of those who have been harmed
The Jameses have chosen silence over accountability. They have chosen marketing over making things right. They have chosen to continue business as usual while the evidence of their misconduct piles up and the federal government continues to pursue overpayment demands for the remaining fraudulent claims.
The Hindenburg Papers will continue to investigate this case. If you or someone you know has been affected by James Healthcare & Associates—whether through fraudulent billing, medical negligence, financial exploitation, or any other form of harm—we want to hear from you.
Please send your complaints, documentation, or any information you have to our investigation team. Your voice matters. Your story matters. And together, we can ensure that those who have been harmed are not forgotten—and that those responsible are held accountable.
The Hindenburg Papers is an independent investigative journalism platform dedicated to exposing fraud, corruption, and abuse of power. We rely on tips from whistleblowers and the public to continue our work. If you have information about James Healthcare & Associates or any other matter you believe should be investigated, please contact us.