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Posts Tagged ‘False Claims Act’

Fraud Allegation for Unnecessary Breast Cancer Index (BCI)Testing

Friday, May 18th, 2018

Unnecessary Breast Cancer Testing Fraud Settlement

False Claim Breast Cancer Index TestingA company will pay around $2 million to settle allegations of making false claims to Medicare for Breast Cancer Index (BCI) tests that were alleged to be not reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

The government accused the company of knowingly promoting and performing BCI testing for breast cancer patients who had not been in remission for five years and who had not been taking tamoxifen.  The government alleged that performing BCI testing under these circumstances was not reasonable and necessary based on published clinical trial data and clinical practice guidelines.

This case highlights the need to assure that there is clinical support for providing and billing for services.  In this case, the government took the position that patients who did not meet certain criteria would not benefit from the BCI testing.

Unnecessary Inpatient Admissions Results in Hospital DOJ Settlement

Thursday, May 17th, 2018

Unnecessary Inpatient Admissions – Hospital Fraud Settlement.

Hospital Admissions Fraud Risk AreaAn $18 million settlement was agreed by a hospital chain after allegations that claims were submitted to Medicare for patients who were admitted to an inpatient facility when they allegedly could have been treated on a less costly outpatient basis.  The government alleged that the hospital system billed Medicare for short-stay, inpatient procedures that should have been billed on a less costly outpatient basis.  The government also accused the hospital system of inflating reports to Medicare regarding the number of hours of outpatient observation care that was provided.

This is a fairly typical case where the allegation involved billing for services that were of a higher level than required by the patient.  In effect, the excess services are deemed to be medically unnecessary.  In this case, the services involved inpatient admissions that the government alleged could have been taken care of in a less costly outpatient setting.

A former employee was the whistleblower in the case and walks away with over $3.25 million from the settlement.

Opioid Prescribing Results in Medicare Fraud Claim

Tuesday, May 15th, 2018

Overprescribing Opioids Without Demonstrated Medical Justification.

A settlement was recently announced by the Department of Justice that symbolizes another use of fraud enforcement by the government to combat the opioid epidemic.  Providers need to take notice of these enforcement actions as they indicate opioid related issues as significant compliance risk areas.

The government alleged that a chiropractor billed Medicare and a state Medicaid program improperly for painkillers, including Opioids. The case involved four managed pain clinics, all which were closed through the course of the case.  The settlement also required a nurse practitioner to pay $32,000 and surrender her DEA registration to settle allegations that she violated the Controlled Substances Act.

The Department of Justice issued a press release announcing the settlement that directly comments on the opioid issues involved in the case, leaving no ambiguity about what the government is up to.  The quotations are not part of the normal “canned” statements that are normally included in these settlements.  Every indication is that the opioid related language might be adopted a standard form as the government focuses in on these cases.

“More Americans are dying because of drugs today than ever before—a trend that is being driven by opioids,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “If we’re going to end this unprecedented drug crisis, which is claiming the lives of 64,000 Americans each year, doctors must stop overprescribing opioids and law enforcement must aggressively pursue those medical professionals who act in their own financial interests, at the expense of their patients’ best interests.”

The government alleged that the defendants prescribed painkillers and caused pharmacy claims to be submitted where there was no legitimate medical purpose for the prescriptions.  Additionally, the government alleged that the clinics up-coded and billed Medicare for office visits that were not reimbursable at the levels sought.  In a demonstration of the commitment that the government has in this area, the clinics were also accused of billing for nurse practitioner services that were provided without the required collaboration arrangement in place.

The case was initially brought forward by a former office manager turned whistleblower who is set to earn $246,500 under the settlement.

Health Care Leads in Fraud Recoveries in 2017

Thursday, December 28th, 2017

fraud recovery doj report 2017Health Care Leads With $2.4 Billion Fraud Recoveries in 2017

The United States Department of Justice recently released a summary of recoveries from False Claims Act cases for Fiscal Year 2017.  The report, which was released in late December 2017, indicates that the DOJ recovered over $3.7 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims during 2017.

One thing is evident when examining the report.  The lion’s share of recoveries come from the health care industry.  Almost $2.5 billion of the $3.7 billion in total recoveries involved health care providers and others in the health care industry.  This is not a new trend.  Health care has led in recoveries with over $2 billion per year for the past 8 years in a row.

The department’s health care fraud program is intended to restore assets to federally funded programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE.  By all reports, health care fraud and abuse recovery is big business for the Federal government.  The details vary, but reports indicate that the government receives between seven and ten times return on every dollar it spends on pursuing health care fraud and abuse cases.  Recent revisions to Federal False Claims Act penalties increased the maximum penalty per claim from $11,000 to $22,000.  This increase is likely to result in even more aggressive enforcement and an even higher percentage return on the government’s investment in this area.

The high potential financial exposure is intended to deter others from committing health care fraud.  Additionally, the high potential exposure provides an incentive for providers to put in place proactive compliance programs to help identify errors and instances of noncompliance that could eventually result in unmanageable penalties if allowed to emerge through discovery by government audits or a whistleblower complaint.  It is generally much preferable for a provider to discover and correct a problem on its own initiative rather than exposing itself to draconian penalties.

Federal Government Will Seek Dismissal of False Claims Act Cases That Lack Merit

Monday, December 11th, 2017

The FCA is a federal law aimed at combatting fraud against the U.S. government.  The FCA has been around since 1863, in response to contractors who defrauded the Union Army by selling it defective weapons, ammunition, and equipment and unhealthy and unfit food and animals.

A prime feature of the FCA is what is called the “qui tam” provision, under which a private citizen, known as a “relator” (otherwise known as a whistleblower), can sue on behalf of the government and be paid a percentage of the amount recovered (generally 15% to 30%) plus legal fees.  Health care and military-related industries have been particularly popular targets of FCA whistleblower actions.  Under the FCA, the DOJ has 60 days within which to decide to prosecute the claim or decline involvement.  If the DOJ decides not to be involved, the relator has to decide whether to proceed alone.

Up to now, it has been the position of the government that the relator is free to continue a case that the government declines to prosecute.  Now, however, the DOJ will file a motion with the court urging it to dismiss the case if it believes it is frivolous.  The DOJ’s rationale for its new policy is that frivolous litigation imposes a burden on the government, the courts, and the health care industry.

It is important to note that this change in policy affects only those cases that the DOJ believes have no merit.  By no means should this cause any reduced emphasis on compliance activities.  It is also not known how DOJ will determine that a case is frivolous.  What is known is that this is a major shift from the policy of the previous administration and could have significant implications for the health care sector.

Dermatology Fraud Risk Areas – Impossibly Long Days

Tuesday, June 27th, 2017

Failure to Supervise and Impossibly Long Days

Payment of $302,000 and Forced Corporate Integrity Agreement – July 2016

fraud and abuse dermatologistsThe government alleged the dermatologist in this case repeatedly billed for services under the “incident to” billing rules during periods when the dermatologist was not present in the office.  Some of the services were allegedly performed when the doctor was traveling out of the country.  The government also alleged the doctor billed for impossibly long days including one day where 26 hours were billed.

This case illustrates the need to comply with the “incident to” billing rules.  Those rules permit a physician extender’s services be billed under the physician in certain circumstances.  In order to qualify to bill incident to, the physician must be physically present within the office suite at the time the extender performs the service.  The physician cannot order the procedure and then leave the office while the procedure is being performed.  There are new Medicare rules clarifying some aspects of the “incident to” billing rules.  There was a previous ambiguity that some providers interpreted as permitting the physician that ordered the service to bill for the services, even though another physician actually supervised the performance of the service.  The rules revision clarified only the supervising physician can bill the services as “incident to” his or her service.  The ordering physician can only bill the service if he or she also supervises the extender.

Credible Information Indicating Overpayment – Duty to Investigate

Tuesday, June 27th, 2017

Addressing Potential Over-payment Situations – Exercising Reasonable Care

known overpayment credible informationThe new final regulations under the 60-day repayment rule, require providers to affirmatively exercise reasonable diligence to identify potential overpayment situations. The obligations to further investigate is triggered when a provider receives “credible information” that indicates a potential overpayment.  Affirmative steps must be taken in a timely and good faith manner to investigate the situation further. Failing to use reasonable diligence can result in significant penalties under the False Claims Act (FCA). In some cases criminal liability can attach as well; particularly when evidence strongly indicates a problem might exist and a deliberate decision is made not to investigate or repay an amount due.

By now most health care providers are at least generally aware of the 60-day repayment rule. That rule originated as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The rule provides that the failure to repay a known overpayment within 60 days after discovery results in potential penalties under the FCA. This means a simple overpayment is multiplied by a factor of three. Additionally, penalties can be assessed in amounts ranging from a minimum of $11,000 and a maximum of approximately $22,000 per claim. Financial exposure under the FCA can be very substantial; particularly when there is a systematic billing error that impacts a large number of claims over a significant period of time. The lookback period for imputed False Claims is 6 years, which amplifies the potential exposure when the “tip of the iceberg” is discovered in a current year audit.

The initial statutory provision left some ambiguity regarding application of the 60-day repayment rule. One significant ambiguity relates to when the 60-day time period begins to run. The statute states the 60-day period commences upon “identification” of the overpayment but included no clarification of when a provider is deemed to have identified the existence of an overpayment. It was not clear whether identification occurred when there was an allegation that an overpayment exists, when an amount of overpayment was calculated, when the existence of the overpayment was verified, or at some other time. It was also unclear whether actual knowledge of an overpayment was required or whether knowledge could be imputed in certain circumstances.

CMS provided clarification on the issue of identification in the final regulations, but the clarification places significant burdens on providers. Under the final rules, the provider is deemed to have identified an overpayment not when actual knowledge is obtained, but rather when the provider “should have” identified the overpayment through the exercise of “reasonable diligence.” The new standard requires providers to conduct a timely and good faith investigation when it receives credible information an overpayment might exist. Failing to take reasonable steps to investigate will result in imputed knowledge and deemed “identification” of the overpayment. In other words, the 60-day clock starts to run when the investigation should have commenced.

It is useful at this point to mention what constitutes an overpayment that invokes the statutory requirement. An overpayment exists when the provider receives any funds to which they are not entitled. There is no requirement of an amount threshold, substantiality, or materiality. Any overpayment invokes the statute and becomes a potential false claim if not repaid within the 60-day period. There are situations where the amount of overpayment is so small that the provider might determine it not worth the resources to identify, quantify and repay. When making this determination, it should be kept in mind the FCA will apply if a whistleblower case is brought or a government investigation is commenced and finds the overpayment. FCA liability can result in large penalties; particularly where there are multiple claims involved. It should also be kept in mind that criminal statutes impose felony penalties for the willful failure to return known overpayments.

Overpayments that are self-discovered and repaid before they become false claims are relatively easy to manage. Once the FCA potentially attaches, these situations become increasingly complicated to manage. The OIG Self Disclosure process should be considered where potential for significant penalties is present. The Self Disclosure Protocols permit resolution at a minimum of 1.5 times the amount of the overpayment. Full disclosure of the facts and investigation is required as part of the self-disclosure process. Only civil penalties are subject to settlement under the protocol. The wrong facts disclosed as part of the SDP process can lead to criminal charges against the entity or individuals. Criminal charges cannot be settled using the SDP.

Where amounts are smaller, a provider may decide to repay without going through the protocol process. A determination of which option is right in the specific situation should be made with the involvement of legal counsel that has experience with these issues.

Proper operation of a compliance program is the best defense to mitigating exposure under the 60-day rule. Prompt investigation should be conducted whenever there is a credible allegation of an overpayment. Compliance risk identification and proactive auditing can also help mitigate risk by identifying problems early and by demonstrating the compliance process is being effectively operated. This will help avoid allegations that overpayments should have been discovered sooner through the exercise of a reasonable compliance program. Most importantly, ignoring alleged overpayments is never an answer that mitigates risk. All credible allegations must be investigated and appropriate repayment should be made using one of the available methods. The requirements of the final rule should be baked into compliance program policies and procedures and staff should be educated on the need to investigate and return overpayments within required timeframes.

False Claims Act Liability – Conditions of Participation and Conditions of Payment

Friday, June 24th, 2016

7th Circuit Law on False Certification Completely Changed Overnight

False claims act supreme courtUp until June 16, 2016, the law in the 7th Circuit was very clear; violations of conditions of participation did not support a potential False Claims Act claim.  Only violation of a specific condition of payment could support potential liability.

That all changed with a decision of the United States Supreme Court that was issued on June 16, 2016.  In a case arising out of the Massachusetts Medicaid program, the Supreme Court held that under the right circumstances, the violation of a condition of participation can give rise to False Claims Act liability.  Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar, http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/universal-health-services-v-united-states-ex-rel-escobar/

In rejecting the distinction between conditions of payment and conditions of participation.  Instead, in the Court’s opinion “what matters is not the label that the Government attaches to a requirement, but whether the defendant knowingly violated a requirement that the defendant knows is material to the Government’s payment decision.”

When evaluating the FCA’s materiality requirement, the Government’s decision to expressly identify a provision as a condition of payment is relevant, but not automatically dispositive.  A misrepresentation cannot be deemed material merely because the Government designates compliance with a particular requirement as a condition of payment.  Nor is the government’s option to decline to pay if it knew of the defendant’s noncompliance sufficient for a finding of materiality.  Materiality also cannot be found where the noncompliance is minor or insubstantial.

The net effect of the decision is to case uncertainty over the false certification analysis.  At least in the 7th Circuit, prior to the Court’s decision, we at least knew that only failures in condition of payment could support potential False Claims Act liability.  Simple violation’s of conditions of participation could not support such a claim.  Now we are told that violation of a condition of participation can result in a False Claim if it is “material” to the Government’s payment decision.  The standard no requires analysis of each situation under the “materiality” requirement.

People in the health care industry know that violations of conditions of participation happen frequently.  Facilities often receive citations, and must correct deficiencies.  When those deficiencies can result in False Claims is now quite nebulous.

60 Day Repayment Rule Affordable Care Act

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014

Overpayments and the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act mandates providers to return overpayments within 60 days after identification.  Failure to return known overpayments within 60 days of identification subjects the provider to possible claims under the False Claims Act.  Proposed regulations implementing the 60 day repayment rule was released in February of 2012 but have not yet been finalized.  Delays in finalizing regulation does not delay the effective date of the statute.

It is suggested that providers adopt policies to operationalize compliance with the repayment rules.  Providers who act in reckless disregard of overpayments can be subject to the draconian penalties imposed by the False Claims Act.  Reasonable compliance processes that are consistently followed provide the best defense if overpayments fall through the cracks.

Comments to the proposed repayment regulations strongly suggest that providers should take reasonable steps to self examine for potential overpayments.  In order to meet its obligations to take reasonable steps to identify overpayments, providers should adopt self audit and risk identification policies.  Those policies should be systematically followed.  Even though it may not be possible to identify every potential overpayment, the systematic adherence to policies and procedures that are reasonably calculated to identify potential problems in systematically identified areas where risk may occur.

For more information on the steps that you should follow to reduce your risk under the False Claims Act and overpayment statute, feel free to contact health care compliance attorney John Fisher.

New 2013 Self Disclosure Protocols

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014

An OIG representative spoke about the new revised self disclosure protocols at a recent HCCA seminar that I attended.  The OIG felt it was appropriate to be more transparent regarding the process for self disclosure.  A few points were highlighted in this session:

  1. The OIG held its own feet to the fire by acknowledging the 1.5 damage multiplier when the self disclosure protocol is used.  They will need to justify if they are going to ask for more.
  2. Self disclosure is not admission of liability.  However, you will be required to make a settlement and payment if you make a self disclosure.
  3. Self disclosure is not to be used to get an interpretation of whether your activity was wrongful or whether a law was violated.
  4. Decision not to self disclose leaves you open to potential whistleblower complaints.  False Claims Act potential remains for the ten-year False Claims Act statute of limitation.
  5. Repayment can go to the fiscal intermediary if there is no wrongdoing but there is still an overpayment.
  6. Self disclosure requires disclosure of how your investigation was conducted.  If the investigation was conducted under privilege, you will need to disclose privileged information on investigation under privilege.
  7. The only party that can give you a False Claims Act release is the Department of Justice (“DOJ”).  The DOJ does not have a formal process for obtaining a signoff from the DOJ.  There is an option to go to the DOJ to get a waiver of False Claims Act remedies.
  8. Protocol requires the provider to have done some level of fraud investigation before they self disclose.  OIG likes to see more work done on the front end.
  9. The OIG coordinates with the DOJ on all investigations.  The DOJ may elect to defer or to participate.  If the DOJ participates, there will also be a False Claims Act issue.
  10. Even if you enter a settlement with the OIG, you may still be open to a False Claims Act action by a whistleblower.  However, there would have been a public disclosure which may cut off a potential whistleblower.
  11. OIG does not go to DOJ until they develop the case and know what they are dealing with.
  12. Intent to make calculation of damages simpler.  They now use 100 claim sample to determine damages.  They tend to take the midpoint on damage calculations.
  13. Thirty to forty percent of self disclosures involve excluded parties.  The new protocols includes more detail on how to self disclose based on excluded parties, OIG requires exclusion checks for all providers are required before submitting a self disclosure.
  14. The self disclosure protocols include a formula for calculating damages when there is no direct billing for an excluded party.  The formula includes multiplying the total cost of employment by the payor mix percentage for federal health care programs.

John H. Fisher

Health Care Counsel
Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C.
500 First Street, Suite 8000
P.O. Box 8050
Wausau, WI 54402-8050

Tel 715.845.4336
Fax 715.845.2718

Ruder Ware is a member of Meritas Law Firms Worldwide

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