NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a $600,000 settlement on Wednesday with a Brooklyn diagnostic and treatment center that allegedly ran a satellite facility without an operating certificate.
Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center allegedly disguised the Medicaid billings from the Whitman Ingersoll Farragut Health Center to make them appear as if the services were rendered at the main facility. The allegedly fraudulent billings caused the Medicaid program to offer inflated reimbursements for the services that were rendered.
“My office will find those who skirt safeguards built into our healthcare system, including for key programs that provide critical services to our neediest neighbors," Schneiderman said. "Stopping the abuse and misuse of Medicaid and taxpayer dollars is a priority for my office. We will enforce New York laws against fraud to help ensure that all New Yorkers, including the sick among us, are protected.”
Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center allegedly violated New York state and federal false claims acts by submitting thousands of fraudulent claims for services that were rendered at the Whitman Ingersoll Farragut Health Center to the state's Medicaid program. The claims were allegedly billed at the higher rate provided to Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center, which the uncertified satellite facility was not entitled to receive.
Under the terms of the settlement, Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center will pay $600,000 to reimburse the state and the federal government for contributions to the New York's Medicaid Program.