Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries
On Friday, April 29th, DOJ announced a $34.37 million settlement with Eargo Inc., a California company that sells and dispenses hearing aids, relating to allegations that Eargo submitted false claims for reimbursement to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). FEHBP — the largest employer-sponsored health insurance program in the world — is administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and provides health benefits to eight million current and former federal employees and their families through various health insurance providers.
According to the government, Eargo submitted or caused the submission of claims for reimbursements to FEHBP for hearing aids between January 1st, 2017, and January 31st, 2021, which included unsupported diagnosis codes. Eargo also allegedly provided invoices to FEHBP beneficiaries that the beneficiaries, in turn, used to obtain reimbursement from FEHBP, reflecting unsupported hearing-loss-related diagnostic codes. In addition, the government alleged that Eargo knowingly used unsupported hearing-loss-related diagnostic codes between February 1st, 2021, and September 22nd, 2021, even after Eargo completed an internal review of its billing and coding practices in January 2021.
The DOJ press release is here.
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