{"id":50189,"date":"2022-06-29T13:37:09","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T20:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=50189"},"modified":"2022-06-29T13:38:45","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T20:38:45","slug":"fifteen-texas-doctors-agree-to-pay-over-2-8-million-to-settle-kickback-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=50189","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen Texas Doctors Agree to Pay Over $2.8 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Total of 33 Texas Doctors Have Settled Related Health Care Fraud Allegations<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"\"Fifteen additional Texas doctors have agreed to pay a total of $2.83 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations involving illegal kickbacks, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

These were alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Anti-Kickback and Stark Statutes help protect the integrity of federal health care programs,\u201d said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Division. \u201cWe will continue to pursue both individuals and corporations responsible for schemes that violate these important safeguards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese settlements should reinforce the message that the Eastern District of Texas will not tolerate health care providers who seek to enrich themselves through kickback schemes,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston for the Eastern District of Texas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"black<\/a>\u201cThis outcome is the result of cooperation amongst law enforcement partners focused on upholding the integrity of federal health care programs,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Miranda L. Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid and other federally-funded programs. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Stark Law forbids a hospital or laboratory from billing Medicare for certain services referred by physicians that have a financial relationship with the hospital or laboratory.<\/span><\/p>\n

The claims resolved by the settlements are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"person<\/a>The Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law are intended to ensure that medical providers\u2019 judgments are not compromised by improper financial incentives and are instead based on the best interests of their patients, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

The settlements announced today resolve allegations that 15 Texas doctors violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law by receiving thousands of dollars in remuneration from nine management service organizations or MSOs. i<\/span>n exchange for ordering laboratory tests from Rockdale Hospital dba Little River Healthcare (Little River), True Health Diagnostics LLC (True Health), and\/or Boston Heart Diagnostics Corporation (Boston Heart). <\/span><\/p>\n

Little River allegedly funded the remuneration to certain doctors, in the form of volume-based commissions paid to independent contractor recruiters, who used MSOs to pay numerous doctors for their referrals. <\/span><\/p>\n

The MSO payments to the doctors were allegedly disguised as investment returns but in fact were based on, and offered in exchange for, the doctors\u2019 referrals.<\/span><\/p>\n