St. Louis-based Total Access Urgent Care will pay $9.1 million to settle allegations that it submitted false claims for medical services, including Covid-19 testing, the U.S. Attorney's Office in St. Louis said Thursday.
The feds said that from April 2017 through November 2021, Total Access submitted claims for payment to the Medicare and TRICARE programs indicating that a physician performed office visits when a non-physician practitioner had actually done so, leading to a higher reimbursement.
From November 2015 through November 2021, it also submitted claims to the programs that were upcoded, referring to more serious and expensive diagnoses and procedures than were actually provided, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. It added that upcoded office visit claims were also submitted to a program that reimbursed for testing, treatment of and vaccination against Covid-19, for people who were uninsured.
The feds said that the claims led to Total Access receiving reimbursement from the government "to which it was not entitled," and that the settlement amount will fully repay the three programs.
Total Access didn't admit liability in the settlement agreement, the feds said.
The company said in a statement Thursday that in February 2021, management became aware of a federal inquiry. "TAUC management cooperated fully with the government's investigation, provided the information requested, and corrected certain procedures that had inadvertently led to identified concerns, including...
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