Gov. Greg Abbott and other top leaders are talking about trimming the state’s budget, including in health care and education. Meanwhile, the state’s main doctor group, the Texas Medical Association, is asking Abbott — again — to accept federal Medicaid … Read More
The person in charge of providing health care for low-income Americans spent several million dollars on taxpayer money on furthering her own career, a congressional investigation has found. Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services … Read More
Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that Shreveport Prosthetics, Inc. (“SPI”) has agreed to pay $1.6 million, plus interest, to the federal government to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act for false supplier billings … Read More
WHEELING, W.Va. — Wheeling Hospital, Inc. has agreed to pay the United States a total of $50,000,000 to resolve claims that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting claims to the Medicare program that resulted from violations of … Read More
AUSTIN, Texas — When Dr. Zachary Sussman went to Physicians Premier ER in Austin for a COVID-19 antibody test, he assumed he would get a freebie because he was a doctor for the chain. Instead, the free-standing emergency room charged … Read More
A Texas assistant attorney general sent dozens of tweets over the past several months threatening violence against progressives, spouting racist and transphobic rhetoric, casting doubt over the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic and sharing QAnon conspiracy theories. On Thursday, he lost … Read More
PHOENIX – A network of urgent care centers based in Arizona was convicted and ordered last week to pay $12.5 million on charges of health care fraud and engaging in monetary transactions derived from unlawful activity. That fine is equal … Read More
A federal judge in Florida has dismissed a suit for business interruption insurance payments by a Florida dentist who claimed the damages were caused by COVID-19 virus and related civil authority shutdowns of dental services. U.S. District Court Judge John … Read More
A 45-year-old manager of medical clinics in both Brooklyn and Queens was sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $40 million after he was sentenced in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday. Aleksandr Pikus, from Brooklyn, … Read More
PHOENIX — An $11 million agreement has been reached between Hacienda HealthCare and the state of Arizona over improper billing, and two top former executives have been indicted, according to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. A fraud investigation into Hacienda … Read More
In the first comprehensive glimpse of how the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic will affect key state services, an August state budget document obtained by the American-Statesman lays out how agencies proposed meeting 5% cuts demanded by the state’s Republican … Read More
In an unapologetic presentation to city officials, Dan Sellers, chief financial officer of Marion County’s public health agency, defended his agency’s practice of exploiting loose rules to legally divert federal Medicaid dollars from its 78 nursing homes. Sellers told the … Read More
FRANKFORT, Ky.- A McDowell, Ky., man, Denver D. Tackett, DMD, 66, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, before U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, to health care fraud. According to the plea agreement, Tackett, a licensed dentist who owned and operated Tackett … Read More
HOUSTON – A 52-year-old pain management physician from Houston has paid $530,000 to resolve allegations he falsely billed Medicare for the use of electro-acupuncture devices, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. From March 1, 2019, to Oct. 31, 2019, Dr. … Read More
AUSTIN – As the Texas fiscal year closes amid the coronavirus pandemic, state agencies are quietly moving forward with budget cuts through a process controlled entirely by top Republicans, putting services for low-income Texans in jeopardy at a time advocates … Read More
After spending nearly 10 months in prison, convicted dentist Nate Schott came back to his Murfreesboro home during the pandemic. “I’m just glad to be back home,” Schott said Tuesday. He was released in late May but will finish his … Read More
A man charged in a multimillion dollar Medicaid fraud scheme with roots in Roanoke Rapids and Ahoskie made his first court appearance in North Carolina last week. United States District Judge Richard E. Myers II ordered Timothy Mark Harron detained … Read More
Ghanshyam Bhambhani, a former Queens cardiologist, will pay a total of $2 million to settle civil claims that he paid kickbacks to other physicians for referrals of patients insured by Medicare, Medicaid and the Federal Employees’ Health Benefits Program, according … Read More
Reorganization and Sale Will Strengthen the Company’s Balance Sheet While the Company Continues to Operate Normally; Benevis Maintains Focus on Supporting Patients, Dentists, and Other Associates in the Dental Practices it serves. August 03, 2020 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight TimeMARIETTA, … Read More
A Texas-based pharmacy marketer has been charged by federal in a conjunction to a scheme to collect more than $60 million in healthcare kickbacks. Vinson Woodlee, owner and president of Med Left LLC, has been charged with violating the federal … Read More
LT Smile Corporation, along with its subsidiaries Benevis Holding Corporation, Benevis Corporation, Benevis LLC, Benevis Affiliates LLC, and Benevis Informatics LLC (“Benevis”), has filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code to generate recapitalization … Read More
UC Health confirmed Thursday it agreed to pay $3.1 million to settle a Medicare fraud lawsuit with nearly $800,000 going to the doctor who allegedly blew the whistle. Dr. Donald Lynch filed the lawsuit in August 2018 stating that hospital … Read More
Dr. Stella Immanuel, the Houston pastor-physician at the center of controversy over her unsupported claims that an anti-malaria drug can cure COVID-19, tweeted Thursday that the Texas Medical Board has opened an investigation of her. Source: Houston pastor-physician Stella Immanuel … Read More
ST. LOUIS — A dentist has been sentenced to prison for defrauding Illinois Medicaid out of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of several years. The Department of Justice said Dr. Yun Sup Kim, 49, of St. Louis, … Read More
A Dallas dentist who prosecutors said lived lavishly at his Preston Hollow home while filing fraudulent Medicaid claims has been ordered to pay roughly $16.5 million by a district court judge. Attorney General Ken Paxton said Tuesday state district court … Read More
HARLINGEN, Texas (KVEO) — The World Health Organization is urging dentist offices to close just as other businesses have as a result of the pandemic. WHO advises that non-essential oral health care stop until COVID-19 cases decline to avoid the … Read More
Federal employees and military retirees will have more insurance plans to choose from this year, as the Office of Personnel Management announced Aug. 11 that it has selected the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Program insurance carriers that will be … Read More
It’s been a month since the Small Business Administration released its Paycheck Protection Program recipient list, and several Lenoir County business owners have expressed their concerns over possible mistakes. Of the 93 Lenoir County businesses that received PPP loans, 17 … Read More
An anesthesiologist and one of the founding members of the defunct Forest Park Medical Center has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for his role in a $200 million bribery scam that forced the closing of the … Read More
BALTIMORE — On Friday, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced that 40-year-old Roshun J. Harris, of Randallstown, pleaded guilty to one count of felony Medicaid Fraud for submitting claims that caused the Maryland Medical Assistance Program (Medicaid) to reimburse … Read More
A whistleblower lawsuit accuses Cigna of receiving “billions” in overpayments for its Medicare Advantage plans. The amended complaint, filed by the Department of Justice in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York a year ago, was … Read More
As she waited for the results of her rapid COVID-19 test, Rachel de Cordova sat in her car and read through a stack of documents given to her by SignatureCare Emergency Center. Without de Cordova leaving her car, the staff … Read More
AWaco couple is suing a local dental practice, alleging officials induced them to extract their teeth to have implants, falsified credit applications and then left the woman toothless after her insurance would not cover the procedure. Juan and Maria Flores … Read More
As COVID-19 spread across Texas in March, it became clear that the virus would batter the state’s 1,200 or so nursing homes, where some of the most vulnerable Texans were crammed together in largely understaffed, unprotected facilities. Five months later, … Read More
RALEIGH — Attorney General Josh Stein announced Wednesday that Lakeisha Shameika Jones pleaded guilty to fraud by a medical assistance provider and obtaining property by false pretenses. Jones was sentenced to eight to 19 months in prison and suspended for … Read More
Prosecutors in Texas announced Thursday that a federal judge has temporarily halted allegedly fraudulent coronavirus testing being administered by a masseuse at her holistic health care facility. U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra granted the government’s motion for a temporary … Read More
BALTIMORE, MD—Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh on Wednesday announced that Maryland will receive more than $4.4 million to resolve allegations that Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Novartis) paid kickbacks to health care practitioners in the form of cash, meals, entertainment, and … Read More
A Bakersfield dental office employee has been arrested after failing to pay back monies stolen during a fraud scheme. In June 2018, 42-year-old Karla Morales was charged with 45 felonies, including insurance fraud, identity theft, forgery, and grand theft after … Read More
In some nursing homes, 100% of the residents are positive for the coronavirus. That’s by design. These facilities have volunteered to devote part or all of their buildings exclusively to treating COVID-19 patients, who bring in more government money. But … Read More
For-profit nursing home providers that have faced accusations of Medicare fraud and kickbacks, labor violations or widespread failures in patient care received hundreds of millions of dollars in “no strings attached” coronavirus relief aid meant to cover shortfalls and expenses … Read More
