Physician Partners of America LLC agreed to pay a $24.5 million settlement to resolve allegations that it unlawfully overbilled federal health care programs, incentivized doctors to order unnecessary tests with kickbacks, and made a false statement in connection to a $5.9 million Payment Protection Program loan.
The allegations against Tampa-based PPOA date back to 2018, when the first of four whistleblowers filed a complaint claiming the company fraudulently billed Medicare and other government health care programs for unnecessary urine drugs tests, according to a statement from their attorney. The complaint, which the whistleblower's attorney passed off to the Justice Department, also alleges that PPOA’s affiliated toxicology lab fraudulently billed federal programs for the highest level tests, and incentivized the scheme by paying doctors 40% of the profits.
Colette Matzzie, a partner at Phillips & Cohen LLP who represented the first whistleblower to file a complaint against PPOA, said the number of whistleblowers to come forward against PPOA is notable.
“A large number of people became concerned — independent of each other — about [PPOA’s] practices, which is telling of the scope of the misconduct,” Matzzie told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. “What’s important about this case is that in the context of investigating and resolving a health care fraud case brought forward by whistleblowers, the [Justice Department] also took a look at overbilling during the pandemic...
The HYDRA Commissioner has clarified that HYDRA will not interfere with houses built in old layouts on ULC (Urban Land Ceiling) lands , nor with unregularised vacant plots in such layouts. He urge...