The Oklahoma City-based home health provider Carter Healthcare will pay $22.9 million in order to resolve allegations that it paid physicians to induce referrals of patients that led to false claims to the Medicare and TRICARE programs, reports Home Health Care News.
“The taxpayer dollars that fund Medicare and Medicaid are meant to support the delivery of health care services most suitable for beneficiaries,” Mike Stapleton, acting special agent in charge at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) said. “The payment of kickbacks to medical providers to induce referrals for home health services can improperly divert those dollars and undermine the quality of care being provided to patients.”
Carter Healthcare ran afoul of the Anti-Kickback Statute, which bans the “offering, paying, soliciting, or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid and other federally funded programs.” Read more.
