WASHINGTON (AP) — More than a half million Americans have taken advantage of the Biden administration’s special health insurance sign-up window keyed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government announced Wednesday in anticipation that even more consumers will gain coverage in … Read More
Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan threw his weight Wednesday behind a bill that would extend Medicaid coverage to mothers for a year postpartum as part of a broad package of proposals meant to increase access to affordable health care … Read More
AUSTIN, TX — On April 6, Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) announced they will be adding about $254 million in emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits for the month of April. … Read More
The Texas Senate unanimously signed off on a two-year, $250 billion state budget Tuesday, though there are still questions about how tens of billions of dollars in expected federal aid will be used — and whether it will arrive in … Read More
CDA Presents The Art and Science of Dentistry happening May 13-16 is offering more than 60 continuing education courses led by some of dentistry’s top educators and speakers. Attendees can expect an interactive, virtual experience that will allow them to … Read More
Deputy United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen announced that Bristol-Myers Squibb (“BMS”) has agreed to pay the United States and participating states a total of $75 Million, plus interest, to resolve allegations that it knowingly underpaid rebates owed under the … Read More
A federal criminal complaint has been filed charging Julius Bakari and his wife Mboutchock Kabiwa a/k/a Eugenie Bakari, both age 43, of Silver Spring, Maryland, with health care kickbacks and conspiracy to receive unlawful kickbacks, in connection with their company … Read More
A federal grand jury in Houston, Texas, returned an indictment on March 17, 2021, charging Michael Andrew McCann with conspiring to defraud the United States, endeavoring to obstruct the IRS, failing to file tax returns, and making false bankruptcy declarations. … Read More
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently affirmed a $114 million judgment in a protracted, and hotly contested, suit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA) against the owner of a … Read More
Three Ohio-based psychiatric care and treatment facilities have agreed to pay $10.25 million to resolve a whistleblower lawsuit alleging multiple violations of the False Claims Act. Oglethorpe Inc. and its three facilities Ridgeview Behavioral Hospital, Cambridge Behavioral Hospital, and The … Read More
During a question-and-answer session following his opening remarks at the Federal Bar Association Qui Tam Conference earlier this year, Senator Chuck Grassley said that the government needed to “come down with a sledgehammer, not a toothpick” against fraud. 1 Senator … Read More
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A hospital in Las Vegas has been asked to refund more than $23 million in services after a federal audit concluded it received millions in overpayments from Medicare. The Office of the Inspector General for the … Read More
Dr. Ravi Murali, 39, pleaded guilty to one of the 12 counts he originally faced under an indictment that was issued in June. “I prescribed the braces without following (the) procedure of examining and calling the patients,” Murali told U.S. … Read More
An arbitrator has determined Nashville, Tenn.-based SmileDirectClub owes San Jose, Calif.-based Align Technology a $99.7 million award, including $54.2 million already paid, Yahoo Finance reports. SmileDirectClub must pay Align $45.5 million and additional daily interest of $3,000 starting March 13 … Read More
A federal whistleblower’s complaint, withdrawn recently after the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to intervene in the case, nonetheless contains disturbing allegations of massive fraud by Nova Southeastern University and its College of Dental Medicine. The alleged fraud involves the reputed … Read More
Missouri State Rep. Patricia Derges, accused by federal prosecutors of selling patients fake stem cell treatments at her southwest Missouri clinics, has also been charged with defrauding Greene County of pandemic relief funds. Derges is accused of taking $300,000 in … Read More
The Texas attorney general’s office is attempting to withhold all messages Ken Paxton sent or received while in Washington for the pro-Donald Trump rally that devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol. Several news organizations in Texas have requested … Read More
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced a lawsuit March 8 against a home health care provider for defrauding the District’s Medicaid program of more than $3 million from 2012 to 2014, in part by preying on people experiencing homelessness. The … Read More
ORLANDO — The Central Florida branch of a national ambulance company accused of submitting fraudulent Medicare claims for patient transports will pay $650,000 in restitution to the United States in a settlement reached in late February, records show. According to … Read More
Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced a multistate settlement with Boston Scientific Corporation (Boston) regarding deceptive marketing of its surgical mesh products for women. The settlement requires Boston to pay $188.6 million to 47 states and the District of Columbia … Read More
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas has filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against a Texas dermatopathologist and his clinic, Cockerell Dermatopathology (CDP), for submitting nearly $4.2 million in fraudulent claims to TRICARE, announced Acting … Read More
Fourteen people who were convicted in the Forest Park Medical Center bribery conspiracy have been sentenced to a combined total of more than 74 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. … Read More
The CEO of a local hospice agency has pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare and Medicaid, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah. Bradley J. Harris, the 39-year-old former head of Novus and Optimum Health Services, … Read More
MINNESOTA — Thirteen Minnesota residents were charged in a $5.4 million health care fraud conspiracy case on Friday after prosecutors said that the group attempted to defraud the Medicaid program by submitting fraudulent claims, the acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota … Read More
HOUSTON, TX — A doctor of osteopathic medicine from Bellaire has paid to resolve allegations he falsely certified patients for home health services and received improper payments, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery. Truc Le, 51, is a primary … Read More
Robert John Sabet, the owner of Brooklyn Chemists in Gravesend, Brooklyn, and Lucky Care Pharmacy in Flushing, Queens, has been charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud by paying kickbacks and bribes in connection with the … Read More
An Enfield woman who allegedly billed Medicaid nearly $150,000 in services from unlicensed individuals or provided no services at all, was arrested Monday afternoon. Marcy L. Taliceo, 45, was charged with health insurance fraud and first-degree larceny by defrauding a … Read More
Mohamed Mokbel and Fathy Elsafty, of Houston, Texas, were arrested on charges of money laundering, health care fraud, and conspiracy to commit health care fraud for their participation in an alleged pharmacy fraud scheme. Mokbel served as CEO of 4M … Read More
A New York vascular surgeon has admitted guilt and will pay $800,000 to settle charges that he performed unnecessary procedures on patients with kidney disease, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Feng Qin, MD, is also prohibited from participating … Read More
If we have learned anything over the past year, it’s that adversity reveals the true character of leaders. Since this is Texas, this lesson means recognizing we have elected state officials driven by self-interest, not the public’s interest, at apparently … Read More
Low-income patients will no longer be able to use Medicaid to get nonabortion health services at Planned Parenthood, after a Wednesday court decision said Texas can move forward with kicking the health provider out of its Medicaid program. The decision … Read More
DALLAS — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is under FBI investigation over claims of using his office to help a political donor, gave a job in recent months to another supporter: a onetime neighbor whose family chipped in $50,000 … Read More
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A man known for loud parties and splashy Instagram posts is spending the night in federal detention after prosecutors alleged he paid for it all by bilking others. Federal investigators swarmed the front of a $2 … Read More
Florida’s sunshine, lack of state taxes and wealthy seniors have created a glut of dentists on every street corner. It is a fallacy that there is a shortage of dentists. Graduates of Florida’s three dental schools have a difficult time … Read More
An orthodontist who operates a dental practice on Dorchester Avenue has been hit with a lawsuit by the state’s attorney general that claims he has been purposely “keeping children in braces for longer than medically necessary and deceptively billing for … Read More
AUSTIN — A Texas Medicaid subcontractor has been terminated after a data-privacy breach caused by a ransomware attack from Russia last year exposed the personal information of tens of thousands of low-income residents. Also, a spokeswoman for the state’s sprawling … Read More
A medical director, operator and two unlicensed practitioners at a Texas medical clinic are now in custody on charges related to their alleged participation in a $32 million health care fraud scheme. Farrah Forough Farizani, D.O., 57, Hamid Reza Razavi, … Read More
The chief executive officer of a Michigan and Ohio-based group of pain clinics and other medical providers was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for developing and approving a corporate policy to administer unnecessary back injections to patients in … Read More
Allergy and Asthma Associates, a medical practice in Roanoke, Va., has agreed to pay $2.1 million to resolve allegations of fraudulent billing. Prosecutors said the medical practice billed Medicare and Virginia Medicaid more than $600,000 for asthma treatments it did … Read More
AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — The unexpected closure of a dental center in Amarillo has left dozens of patients in pain, and desperately seeking answers and help. Many paid up front for procedures that still haven’t been completed. Others complain that … Read More
