A San Mateo-based online company that provides women with birth control prescriptions has paid the state $3.2 million for allegedly filing fraudulent insurance claims, according to an announcement Tuesday from the California Insurance Commission.

A state investigation accused company officials with The Pill Club, formerly known as Hey Favor, of filing false claims to insurance companies for reimbursements of patient visits and prescriptions that were not medically necessary.

In the announcement, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara described The Pill Club as an online health company that offers hormonal birth control, emergency contraceptives and female condoms to patients via asynchronous and synchronous telehealth appointments. Nurse practitioners then review online questionnaires submitted by patients and prescribe hormonal birth control and/or FC2 female condoms based on a patient's answers.

Lara said that The Pill Club allegedly falsely billed for the nurse practitioners' review of the online questionnaires by claiming that the review was an in-person patient visit and that the visit lasted 16-30 minutes.

In addition, Lara said The Pill Club allegedly submitted false claims to health insurers for reimbursement for FC2 female condoms that patients did not want and were not medically necessary.

"Fraudulent insurance claims and dispensing products and medications that are unwanted and not medically necessary only serves to increase costs for consumers and on the entire...

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