Clay Eye Holdings LLC was one of five ophthalmology practices in Florida who collectively agreed to nearly $6 million in payments tied to a whistleblower’s lawsuit.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Fleming Island eye-care business will pay $2.1 million to settle accusations it submitted improper claims to Medicare or Medicaid for unnecessary ultrasound procedures, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Clay Eye Holdings LLC was one of five ophthalmology practices around the state who collectively agreed to nearly $6 million in payments tied to a whistleblower’s lawsuit arguing the firms violated the federal False Claims Act, said a Jan. 15 announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Florida’s Middle District, which includes Jacksonville.
The False Claims Act, a 19th-century law, is often used to pursue businesses suspected of involvement with kickbacks that increase government costs for services like Medicare, the country’s health care for senior citizens.
“Kickbacks and false claims increase healthcare costs for all Americans and undermine the integrity of healthcare decision-making,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in the release.
The federal courts’ Pacer system for tracking legal cases didn’t list any cases involving Clay Eye Holdings, however.
The Justice Department announcement said the eye-care firms’ payments resolved issues “arising from their billing for trans-cranial doppler ultrasounds (TCDs) through a...
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