Medicaid Archives - Page 2 of 41

December 21, 2023

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc., maker of Crysvita, will pay $6 million for violating the False Claims Act. Crysvita is prescribed to treat a rare inherited blood disorder, which may require a genetic test to definitively diagnose. To induce purchases and referrals, Ultragenyx paid a laboratory to conduct genetic tests at no cost to healthcare providers or patients, and then provide the results reports to Ultragenyx. Ultragenyx then used the positive test results reports to target healthcare providers for Crysvita sales. Internally, Ultragenyx referred to this kickback scheme as their "sponsored" testing program. The program was exposed via a qui tam whistleblower, who will receive $1.07 million of the $6.7 million recovery. DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Laboratory and IDTF, Medicaid, Medicare, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

OIG Identifies Fraud as Top Challenge in 2023 HHS Annual Report - Bring on the Whistleblowers

Posted 11/21/23

Person with Magnifying Glass and Pen Examining Stack of Papers

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) just released its 2023 Annual Report on its Top Management and Performance Challenges for the past year. Among the key challenges OIG identified is better protecting HHS programs -- Medicare and Medicaid being chief among them -- from fraud, waste, and abuse. No big surprise as this is a perennial challenge for the federal...

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medicare,

October 30, 2023

Nostrum Laboratories Inc. and its founder, Nirmal Mulye, Ph.D., have agreed to pay up to $50 million, with a minimum of $3.8 million, to resolve allegations of defrauding Medicaid in connection with one of their drugs. As part of the settlement, Nostrum and Mulye admitted that they knowingly failed to pay required drug rebates to Medicaid, in violation of the False Claims Act, despite being notified by CMS that they should do so. DOJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Pharma Fraud,

August 30, 2023

Lompoc Valley Medical Center (LVMC) has agreed to pay $5 million to resolve allegations of causing false claims to be submitted to California’s Medicaid program. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medi-Cal received federal funds to expand coverage to previously uninsured adults. However, LVMC knowingly claimed and received payments from the government for services that were duplicative, not reimbursable, or not priced at fair market value. CA AG

Tagged in: FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud,

August 18, 2023

A doctor who defrauded California’s Medicaid program of over $20 million has been sentenced to 5 years in jail, ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution, and forced to surrender his medical license. Mohamed Waddah El-Nachef had pleaded guilty to prescribing medically unnecessary anti-psychotics, HIV medications, and opioids to over a thousand Medi-Cal beneficiaries, many of whom then sold the drugs for cash. CA AG

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid, Provider Fraud,

August 8, 2023

Pharmaceutical drug manufacturers Shire PLC, Baxter International Inc., Baxalta Inc., Viropharma Inc., Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc., and Takeda Pharmaceuticals America have agreed to pay more than $42 million to settle a qui tam suit alleging violations of the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act. According to an unnamed whistleblower, the companies allegedly directly or indirectly provided payments or nursing services to Medicaid providers in exchange for referrals or recommendations of a particular drug. TX AG

Tagged in: FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

August 4, 2023

Aspirar Medical Lab LLC and owner Pick Chay have agreed to pay almost $2 million to resolve allegations of defrauding the North Carolina Medicaid program. The company allegedly paid two other companies for referring medically unnecessary urine drug tests to it, then submitted claims stemming from these illegal kickbacks to Medicaid. NC AG

Tagged in: FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Laboratory and IDTF, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid,

July 11, 2023

The owner of one of California’s largest chains of pain management clinics has agreed to pay nearly $11.4 million to the federal government and the states of California and Oregon to settle allegations of defrauding Medicare and state Medicaid programs of millions of dollars. A nearly four-year investigation by government data analysts found that Dr. Francis Lagattuta and his business, Lags Medical Clinics—which operates more than 20 facilities in California and Oregon—billed the healthcare programs for medically unnecessary tests and procedures that were provided to every patient as part of clinic protocols. The investigation also found that patients who did not consent to such procedures had their pain medication reduced. Furthermore, a respiratory therapist who was the spouse of an executive was recruited to interpret certain test results despite having no formal medical training. In addition to the monetary penalty, Dr. Lagattuta is also barred from serving Medi-Cal beneficiaries for the next five years. CA AG

Tagged in: FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Improper Medical Personnel, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid, Medicare, Provider Fraud,

June 21, 2023

Skilled nursing facility Alta Vista Healthcare & Wellness Centre and its management company Rockport Healthcare Services have agreed to pay $3.8 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks to physicians to induce referrals of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to its center. The violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, federal False Claims Act, and California False Claims Act were uncovered during a government investigation, and showed illegal kickbacks in the form of cash, gifts, and salaries paid from 2009 through 2019. CA AG; DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medicare, SNF,

June 13, 2023

The owner of Grace Healthcare Services, a home health company in Texas, has been sentenced to almost 5 years in prison and ordered to pay almost $1.5 million in restitution for defrauding the state’s Medicaid program. Akintunde Oyewale was convicted of paying illegal kickbacks to medical clinics in exchange for false home health certifications and patient referrals, then billing the Texas Medicaid program for services that were medically unnecessary and not actually provided. TX AG

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud, Home Health and Hospice, Medicaid,

Contact

Click here for a confidential contact or call:

Tags

Medicaid