Patients Choice Laboratories allegedly knowingly submitted claims to Medicare for tests that were either "medically unnecessary" or "obtained through kickbacks."
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis lab has agreed to pay more than $9 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute with a COVID testing scheme.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the government alleges that Patients Choice Laboratories (PCL) knowingly submitted claims to Medicare for tests that were either "medically unnecessary" or "obtained through kickbacks."
The government says PCL also paid commissions to independent sales representatives and marketing firms based on the volume or value of referrals.
On Nov. 20, 2020, the government alleges that PCL got into a Marketing Services Agreement (MSA) with an infection prevention company, where PCL agreed to pay $5,000 in exchange for “marketing and management services” in long-term care facilities.
The government says that the agreement served as a "pretext for paying the company for laboratory test referrals, which PCL then billed to Medicare."
The government alleges that PCL paid the infection prevention company to perform services in long-term care facilities, including specimen collection for infectious disease testing.
The government says the infection company swabbed people for COVID-19, and PCL would use the same specimens to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary tests.
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