Taking the Government on a Ride
The owners of a Columbus, Ohio medical transportation company attempted to take three government agencies on a very costly ride. But, the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) put a stop payment on the $3.3 million fare to cover the...
Fraudulent Air
According to the Mayo Clinic, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is used to treat decompression sickness, a hazard of scuba diving. It can also be used to treat serious infections, air bubbles in veins and arteries, and wounds that won’t heal. The owner of a...
Rx for Fraud
A 52-year-old Decatur, Georgia man was recently sentenced to prison for committing healthcare fraud. He defrauded TRICARE and other insurance companies out of more than $6.5 million by using a Pensacola, Florida pharmacy to fill fraudulent prescriptions. While many instances of prescription fraud involve...
Overinflated
A Newton, Massachusetts doctor submitted overinflated claims to Medicare and MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid program, for care he supposedly provided to nursing home patients. The consequences of his overblown actions require him to pay the two government healthcare programs $680,000 to resolve allegations that...
Sticky Situation
Acupuncture, which was developed more than a
thousand years ago in China, is an alternative medical practice that uses
needles to alleviate pain and nausea or treat chronic health conditions. (For those who do not like needles,
physical therapy and chiropractic treatment can also provide...
Loud and Clear
The
False Claims Act (FCA) came about in 1863 when Congress became concerned that
suppliers serving the Union Army during the Civil War were defrauding the Army.
At that time, the FCA required any person who knowingly submitted false claims
to the government to pay $2,000...
Deliberate
Medicare
and Medicaid beneficiaries who receive home healthcare services are required to
use providers approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
(CMS is explicit on compliance requirements so that beneficiaries receive good
healthcare and providers receive payment for their claims in a timely...
Allergic to Fraud
For
allergy sufferers who do not like needles, allergy drops are an alternative to
in-office shots. Some research reports show that the benefits of allergy drops can
be similar to allergy shots, except most drops are not approved by the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA). That’s...
Minimize
For some
people, living a minimalist lifestyle means having a happier life. This is not
so for the owner of a pharmacy in Red Bud, Illinois and his wife. After the
pharmacist was charged with healthcare fraud,
his wife tried to minimize their connection with the...
Extra Padding
There
are several places where it’s nice to have extra padding. For some, a soft foam
topper on a firm mattress could help facilitate a more comfortable night of
rest. Individuals who regularly travel from coast to coast on a bare-bones economy
airline might prefer a...