The Walgreens Boots Alliance has agreed to pay $269.2 million to settle two separate whistleblower lawsuits accusing it of civil fraud for overbilling federal healthcare programs for over ten years. Insulin Settlement In the first suit, the chain will pay … Read More
Idaho, Maine, Nebraska and Utah voters approved Medicaid expansion through ballot initiatives. Now Texas legislators have filed bills for a vote over whether the state should expand coverage for the joint federal-state health insurance program. Olga Kauffman is tired of … Read More
Thousands of Texans seeking government help with surprise medical bills were hit with another shock last year: a clogged-up consumer protection bureaucracy. A massive backlog that began last summer left state regulators unable to provide timely help to the thousands … Read More
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WKBN) – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced on Thursday that Ohio will be joining other states in settling two whistleblower lawsuits against Walgreens Boots Alliance. According to a press release, the agreements settle allegations that Walgreens knowingly … Read More
In a series of legal cases played out over several years, the three largest distributors of dental supplies in the U.S. will be hit collectively with an estimated $100 million or more in settlement and legal fees to resolve alleged … Read More
(FOX 47) – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office wins the largest medicaid fraud case in the state’s history. A Hennepin County District Judge found that Lillian Richardson and Bridgett Burell illegally took $7.7 million from the state’s medicaid program. … Read More
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) made nearly half a dozen announcements at the end of January regarding Medicare fraud involving home health agencies. Among them: A Miami woman was sentenced to more than four years in prison on Jan. … Read More
A Texas lawmaker has authored a bill that would require photographs and names on Lone Star cards to help fight fraud. Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) filed HB 1250 on Jan. 31. The bill requires that the name and photograph of the … Read More
CLEVELAND (AP) — Federal authorities say six people have been indicted in a $48 million Medicaid fraud scheme, including a man who was viewed as a local superhero for his car collection and daring feats for charity. Thirty-eight-year-old Ryan Sheridan … Read More
Union General Hospital in Blairsville, Ga., agreed to pay $5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and Stark Law, according to the Department of Justice. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia … Read More
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – A Martinez man has been sentenced following a case regarding healthcare fraud. 32-year-old Jonathan Duane Austin is sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and has been ordered to pay $1,473,377.51 in restitution for defrauding government … Read More
There are many reasons why people don’t go to the dentist—and some factors, like not having one close by or at affordable prices—can depend on where you live. For example, some states, like Idaho, have few dentists per capita, making … Read More
HOUSTON – The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) at Houston has paid $2,396,769.76 to resolve allegations that its Human Genetics Center misappropriated grant funds the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided for research related to the impact of … Read More
FORT PIERCE — The federal charges accusing a Stuart obstetrician and gynecologist are the result of a former employee chasing a whistleblower reward and an overeager rookie investigator, her attorney said as the trial opened Tuesday in federal court. Dr. … Read More
A North Little Rock dentist was arrested Monday on charges accusing him of billing the state Medicaid program for services he didn’t provide, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said. Brian Moore, 47, is accused of billing the program for about $9,000 … Read More
A Los Angeles, CA-based dentist pleaded guilty on Thursday to a March 2018 indictment charging him with health care fraud arising from his false and fraudulent billings for crowns and fillings, which were never provided to patients. Assistant Attorney General … Read More
FLORHAM PARK, N.J., Jan. 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Conduent Incorporated (NYSE: CNDT), a digital interactions company, was awarded a $100 million, seven-year contract extension to provide third-party administration services for Gold Coast Health Plan (GCHP), a Ventura County, Calif.-based Medi-Cal … Read More
January 30, 2019, Washington, DC—Two Houston, TX, physicians were sentenced to 25-year and 3-year prison terms for their roles in separate schemes to defraud Medicare out of payments for medical services. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice … Read More
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. today sentenced Jayam Krishna Iyer (66, Clearwater) to six months in federal prison for committing health care fraud, ordered Iyer to forfeit over $52,000 in health care fraud proceeds, and … Read More
A Dickinson County woman was ordered yesterday to repay more than $2,500 to the Kansas Medicaid Program after being found guilty of Medicaid fraud-related charges, Attorney General Derek Schmidt said. Ashley Loomis, 29, of Abilene, pleaded no contest in November … Read More
In Elwood, Indiana, a school superintendent has been charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor after she used her son’s name to get medical treatment for a sick student who didn’t have health insurance. Casey Smitherman says she picked up … Read More
They grow the food we eat. They farm the materials for the clothes we wear. They provide the energy that drives our cities. These are the rural Texans we love and idealize. But we overlook a serious reality: Rural healthcare … Read More
A co-founder of Sumter-based Early Autism Project Inc. is facing the possibility of having to pay $9 million if she is convicted of embezzling money from Medicaid and TRICARE, an accusation the organization itself settled in 2018. An indictment from … Read More
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. agreed to pay $269.2 million to settle U.S. claims that the drugstore chain defrauded a federally funded health care program over insulin drugs and a consumer-discount initiative. The two settlements, announced Tuesday, cover allegations over improper … Read More
The former executive director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, the development and commercialization arm of Cleveland Clinic, was sentenced Dec. 19 to 30 months in prison for his role in a fraud scheme, according to the Department of Justice. Federal prosecutors … Read More
Texas Health and Human Services is accepting comments from stakeholders on the following proposed rules. The comment period ends February 10, 2019. Department of State Health Services 25 TAC, Part 1, Chapter 289, Radiation Control Interested parties can participate by: … Read More
A Riley County nurse has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after being found guilty of Medicaid fraud and related charges in three Kansas counties. According to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, 57-year-old Kathleen M. Kleuskens of Ogden entered … Read More
“Federal appeals court lifts order blocking Texas from kicking Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government … Read More
COLUMBIA — Federal authorities are seeking to recover $9 million that they say a S.C. woman stole in a wide-ranging scheme involving false medical bills for treating autistic children. Susan A. Butler, the “founder” of the S.C. Early Autism Project, … Read More
A group of home health agencies is suing the Texas Health and Human Service Commission (HHSC) for allegedly halting reimbursements for telemonitoring services. The agencies claim they will go out of business and deprive Texans of necessary care if the … Read More
WACO, TX (KXXV) – Millions of Texans could be out thousands of dollars with a single trip to the doctor. The Episcopal Health Foundation released a report that shows Texas has the most people without health insurance in the entire … Read More
A Lansing woman has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for Medicaid fraud and related charges, according to a news release from the Kansas Attorney General’s Office. Erin Grae Whitlow, 29, pleaded guilty in November to one count … Read More
Jefferson City, MO – Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that a St. Louis County woman was ordered to repay more than $5,000 to the MO HealthNet program after pleading guilty to Medicaid fraud-related charges. “Missourians have a rightful expectation … Read More
Texas is leading the charge in a federal lawsuit seeking to end the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare,” arguing the law is no longer constitutional after Congress ended the individual mandate. The state also has the highest uninsured rate … Read More
A former Texas Health and Human Services executive commissioner has been tapped to be the acting director of the federal Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services. Chris Traylor will oversee how states are running Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance … Read More
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced the arrest of a mental health therapist at Preferred Family Healthcare (PFH). Kandice Robinson, 33, of Bartlett, Tenn., is accused of billing the Arkansas Medicaid Program for services not rendered … Read More
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former state Medicaid audit administrator accused of bilking his father and Medicaid out of nearly $379,000 has pleaded guilty. Court records say Lincoln resident Craig Barnett entered the pleas last week in U.S. District Court … Read More
ABINGDON, Va. — A former Russell County psychiatrist who admitted in October to bilking an insurance company and Medicaid of thousands of dollars received a 7-month prison from a federal judge. Besides surrendering his medical license, Alfredo Cervantes, 61, must … Read More
A mental health therapist who worked for Preferred Family Healthcare has been accused of defrauding the state’s Medicaid program. Kandice Robinson, 33, of Bartlett, Tenn., is the fourth former employee of the Missouri-based health provider charged by Arkansas authorities in … Read More
A judge in a federal fraud case has ordered an Edmond couple to pay $268,796 in restitution to the state’s Medicaid program. Lawrence Vasquez, 62, and his wife, Eunja L. Vasquez, 56, operated Mercy Diabetic Supply Inc. in Oklahoma City. … Read More
