Baltimore, Maryland – Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced today that Kandel & Associates, P.A., a Baltimore-based law firm, and Nelson R. Kandel, Esq., have entered into a settlement agreement with the United States to resolve allegations that they failed to reimburse the United States for certain Medicare payments the Government had previously made to medical providers on behalf of firm clients.
The Government’s investigation arose under the Medicare Secondary Payer (“MSP”) provisions of the Social Security Act, which authorizes Medicare, as a secondary payer, to make conditional payments for medical items or services under certain circumstances. When an injured person receives a tort settlement or judgment, Medicare law requires persons or entities who receive the settlement or judgment proceeds, including the injured person’s attorney, to repay Medicare for its conditional payments. If Medicare does not receive timely repayment, these same laws and regulations permit the Government to recover the conditional payments from the injured person’s attorney and others who received the settlement or judgment proceeds.
The Government alleges that, over many years, Medicare made conditional payments to healthcare providers to satisfy medical bills for firm clients. During that period, the firm negotiated for and received settlement proceeds for the firm’s clients, but neither the firm nor its clients repaid Medicare for conditional...
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