JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida announced that Physicians Group Services, P.A. has agreed to pay $700,000 to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
The Jacksonville-based health care provider was accused of submitting false or fraudulent claims to the Florida Medicaid Program.
The United States’ investigation focused on urine drug testing by PGS and whether it was necessary for the provider to conduct these tests on patients.
The settlement announced resolves the allegations that PGS submitted claims to Florida Medicaid for the drug testing and that they were medically unnecessary.
Read: JSO; Scam alert
“A primary mission of the United States Attorney’s Office is protecting the Medicaid program and other federal health care programs from fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg. “Our Civil Division works tirelessly in the pursuit of providers who overbill federal health care programs through indiscriminate testing.”
According to special agent in charge Omar Perez Aybar with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, “Health care providers that submit claims to Medicaid for medically unnecessary services undermine this safety net program for their own personal gain.”
The settlement results from a coordinated effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Lindsay Saxe Griffin and Sean Keefe led the civil investigation.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
It’s important to note that the claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
