Dive Brief:
- The executive director of a Kentucky-based home health agency has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle allegations of Medicare fraud.
- Vicki House, Nurses' Registry and Home Health's secretary and executive director, was accused of paying three local physicians for referrals.
- The agency then billed Medicare for payment for the patients who were referred.
Dive Insight:
According to the Justice Department, in submitting Medicare claims resulting from paid physician referrals, the home health agency was in violation of the Stark Law. The agency and its former owner's estate are also being sued under the False Claims Act. That trial is scheduled for August of this year.
If found guilty, the agency and the former owner's estate will be forced to pay three times the amount that Medicare paid the agency for the fraudulent claims. Nuses' Registry would also be excluded from future participation in federal healthcare programs.
Want to read more? You may enjoy this story on the federal crackdown on home health fraud.