A Georgia doctor has agreed to pay the federal government more than $600,000 after a whistleblower filed a lawsuit exposing alleged False Claims Act (FCA) violations.
According to a Tuesday news release, Dr. James Ellner and his Woodstock practice, Georgia Pain Management PC, and ambulatory surgical center, Samson Pain Center PC, agreed to pay $625,000. Ellner and his businesses were accused of breaching the FCA by submitting improper claims to the Medicare and TRICARE programs for evaluation and management services and medically unnecessary urine drug screening tests.
“The federal government expects that physicians and their practices will properly bill Medicare and TRICARE for services they provide,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in the release. “The Department of Justice will work diligently to hold healthcare providers accountable when they break the rules and overbill federal healthcare programs.”
Though the amount Ellner and his businesses owe the government was released in the settlement agreement, the amount of employment and attorney fees were not. Also, under the agreement, no determination of liability has been made, and Ellner can continue to practice medicine and keep his businesses open as long as the fine is paid and he commits no more Medicare fraud.
The settlement came after Georgia Pain Management billing department employee Amy Tyson, who later got divorced and changed her name back to Amy Vermillion,...
For months, President Donald Trump and his allies have vowed to destroy progressive nonprofits, falsely claiming that they fund and support political violence and terrorism in the U.S. But this we...