7 hospitals in New York accused of $ 50 million Medicaid Fra

 

Thursday, Mar 05,2009, 2:41:38 PM   Click:

7 New York hospitals accused of fraud of $ 50M Medicaid VALERIE BAUMANAssociated Press Writer The Associated Press
ALBANY, NY_Four hospitals in New York State bribes paid to get more patients in their drug treatment, which billed Medicaid for services that are not standard or required and no State certification, lawsuits claim.

Another hospital paid to research homeless shelters and other places for patients to enter a stay of three days in detoxification, in exchange for cigarettes, beer, food, and other items, according the lawsuit brought by the Attorney General, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Attorney Benton Campbell.

The lawsuits allege the five hospitals and two others fraudulently billed Medicaid for more than $ 50 million in more than 14,000 individual claims.

The offices of two lawyers refused to say why they do not pursue criminal charges. In both surveys, the former employees of the hospital has notified the authorities of these issues, dating back to 2002.

Five hospitals Monday denied wrongdoing, while others could not be reached.

Cuomo said that all seven hospitals assert their detoxification services were part of a treatment program, but the government lacks the required state license.

The lawsuits allege four of the hospitals involved in a system of bribes to Missouri-based SpecialCare Hospital Management Corp. to refer patients to hospitals in detoxification units.

SpecialCare has an agreement to provide management and administrative services for programs, but the lawsuit alleges illegally also referred patients to the hospital for a fee. Cuomo alleges that the violation of New York anti-kickback laws.

"SpecialCare at once literally picked up strangers in the street, the shuttle to the hospitals where they received treatment that was inappropriate or unnecessary, and then billed the state," Cuomo said in a statement.

Hospitals of the accused in the system of bribes are Columbia Memorial Hospital Physicians Organization Inc, Hudson, Long Beach Medical Center, New York Downtown Hospital and St. Joseph's Medical Center in Yonkers.

The hospital has accused the district of detoxification for the homeless is Queens' Parkway Hospital, which closed in November. The other accused are the former Our Lady of Mercy in the Bronx and Benedictine Hospital in Kingston.

Spokesmen for St. Joseph's, Benedictine, Downtown Hospital, Columbia Memorial and Long Beach has denied the allegations. Parkway officials could not be reached. SpecialCare did not return a call for comment.

"Despite years of investigation, neither the Attorney General of the State of New York, United States, nor the prosecutor's office, expressed any viable claims," said Gary Schulz, a lawyer from St. Joseph's .

The state settled for $ 4.5 million to Our Lady of Mercy, who has denied all wrongdoing. Our Lady of Mercy is now run by Montefiore Medical Center and did not return calls Monday.

© Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material May not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ALBANY, NY_Four hospitals in New York State bribes paid to get more patients in their drug treatment, which billed Medicaid for services that are not standard or required and no State certification, lawsuits claim.