Failure to Abide by Corporate Integrity Agreement Can Trigger Additional Woes

A stethoscope is on top of an agreement.

On June 1, the Departmental Appeals Board (DAB) voted to uphold an order issued by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) against a group of Tennessee-based home health companies to pay $1,322,500 in stipulated penalties for breaches of their Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA). OIG negotiates Corporate Integrity Agreements…

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­PET Scan Company and Owner to Pay $85M to Settle Anti-Kickback Statute Allegations

An Illinois healthcare imaging company and its founder, owner and CEO have agreed to pay $85.5 million to settle claims that the company allegedly paid kickbacks to physicians to refer Medicare patients for cardiac scans using “sham” medical supervision agreements in violation of the Anti-kickback statute. The Settlement Agreement Cardiac Imaging Inc. (CII) and Florida…

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Cigna to Pay $173M to Settle False Claims Act Litigation Filed by Whistleblower

A medicare insurance kit with stethoscope and other medical equipment.

Health insurance giant Cigna agreed to pay nearly $173 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting false diagnosis codes under the federal Medicare Advantage program to increase its payments. In a lawsuit filed last year, the feds alleged that between 2014 and 2019, Cigna submitted to the Centers for…

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Lincare To Pay $29M to Settle Medicare Overbilling Healthcare Fraud Case

A picture of some money and a medical device.

Florida-based Lincare Holdings has agreed to pay $29 million to settle allegations it overbilled Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans for oxygen equipment provided to patients with respiratory-related illnesses. The settlement, which is the largest ever healthcare fraud settlement in the Eastern District of Washington settles claims that Lincare violated the False Claims Act. Lincare Agrees…

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OIG Revises Self-Disclosure Protocol

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For the first time since 2013, The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General has issued updates to its Healthcare Fraud Self-Disclosure Protocol. Created in 1998, the protocol can be used to create a process to voluntarily identify, disclose and resolve instances of potential fraud involving federal healthcare programs. The OIG…

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Clinical Lab Settles Fraud Allegations

A person holding some test tubes in their hands

A Nevada-based clinical lab and two of its owners recently agreed to pay up to $16 million to settle allegations that the lab submitted false claims for payment to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs. In addition, the lab, MD Spine Solutions LLC (MD Labs Inc.), and its co-founders, Denis Grizelj and Matthew Rutledge,…

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