ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia G.F. “Pete” Peterman announced Aug. 4 that the Medical Center of Central Georgia Inc., more commonly known as the Medical Center, Navicent Health (Navicent), will pay $2,549,742 after allegations of violating the False Claims Act.
“Enforcement of the Georgia False Medicaid Claims Act is a top priority for our office,” Carr said. “We appreciate the opportunity to work with our federal law enforcement partners to protect Georgia taxpayers and pursue those who attempt to inflate the costs of the Medicaid services they are trusted to facilitate.”
According to allegations, Navicent submitted false claims for ambulance transports that were inflated or not medically necessary. Georgia and the United States examined Navicent’s billing practices for 27 months to uncover the alleged violations.
“Ambulance billing has long been an area of potential fraud on the Medicare and Medicaid programs and this office will continue to vigorously investigate and pursue those who attempt to take advantage of the program. We will continue to police ambulance providers throughout Middle Georgia until the message has been received,” Peterman said.
“This case shows the value added when investigating health care fraud in a coordinated manner. By combining two parallel investigations, the government was able to to achieve a valuable recovery on behalf of the taxpayers in the most efficient manner possible.”