A federal grand jury recently indicted a married couple that runs an in-home health care company. Prosecutors allege that the couple and their company defrauded Medicare.The man and woman both insist that they are innocent of the 47 charges contained in the indictment...
Month: January 2018
Eye doctor, senator face retrial on Medicare fraud-related charges
A few days ago, New York media was filled with surprise that U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his friend, Dr. Salomon Melgen, will be retried on corruption charges. More eyebrows were raised later when a judge granted a request to acquit the pair on several charges they...
Major consideration for valuations of your health care business
After you decide to sell your health care business, you must, of course, have some idea of its value to attract buyers. However, five people could scrutinize your business and come up with five quite different estimates. In part, the estimate depends on the person's...
Scripps Health settles unauthorized claims case for $1.5 million
Scripps Health, a health care system based in San Diego, has agreed to settle federal False Claims Act allegations for $1.5 million. The Department of Justice accused the system of allowing unauthorized physical therapists to bill Medicare and TRICARE.As you may know,...
Can technology end Medicare fraud?
The Office of Inspector General recently issued a report card for the Department of Health and Human Services. It said that while HHS met many of the requirements in a 2002 law to curb improper payments, it did not fully comply for fiscal 2016. The Inspector General...
Texas physicians group agrees to health care fraud settlement
Texas-based EmCare doctors "provide emergency medicine, hospital medicine, general and trauma surgery, anesthesiology and radiology/teleradiology care to hundreds of hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the country," the...
Physicians groups and DOJ settle kickback claims
Negative publicity began to swirl around now-shuttered Health Management Associates back in 2012 when news magazine "60 Minutes" aired a segment alleging that the hospital chain pressured emergency room doctors to admit patients whether they needed care or not. The...
Conflicting portraits painted of physician awaiting fraud sentence
He stood before the court in his prison overalls and shackles. Humbled by his Medicare fraud conviction, Dr. Salomon Melgen conceded at his sentencing hearing that he had made mistakes in his personal life and asked the judge for mercy.As regular readers of our Austin...
4 odd ways nurses have lost their licenses
It may seem easy to lose a nursing license, but the truth of the matter is that it is extremely difficult. There are processes in place to give nurses the benefit of the doubt and help them retain their documentation. From honest mistakes to total crimes, nurses have...
Is your home health care agency at risk for non-compliance?
A home health care agency that receives government reimbursement for services provided must have a compliance program in place, and the business owner or Compliance Officer should be responsible for implementing this program. Home health care agencies must comply with...