Your prescribed dose of health law news
The owner of Bergen Alliance Counseling Services in Paramus, New Jersey pleaded guilty to a run-of-the-mill healthcare fraud scheme in District Court in Newark on March 19. Maria Cosentino of Garfield, a licensed clinical social worker, admitted to billing private healthcare programs for counseling sessions that did not take place.
The practice provided counseling services…
A March 11 article in Part B News, “Warning: Minor Errors Can Mean Big Takebacks for AWV Claims,” discussed how compliance shortcomings can cause problems for claims to Medicare for annual wellness visits (AWVs). Rivkin Radler’s Mary Aperance was quoted in the article.
“Routine internal audits should be conducted to hone in…
On December 19, Michael Lonski, a Greenwich psychologist, was sentenced to a 27-month prison term and three more years of supervised release for a scheme to defraud Medicaid. Lonski submitted over 80,000 claims from 2014 to 2019, and in calendar year 2017 he submitted claims for services on all but one day—including holidays and weekends.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on May 8 that David Mente, a Pittsburgh psychotherapist, has paid $15,000 to settle a violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. OCR has been pursuing its so-called Right of Access Initiative since 2019, as previously discussed here.
Incredibly, some healthcare…
In the case Brokamp v. James, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on April 27 affirmed the dismissal of Elizabeth Brokamp’s suit against New York officials. The Virginia-licensed mental health counselor’s suit claiming that New York’s licensing laws violated her right to free speech was previously dismissed by a lower court.…
We’ll wrap up this edition of Fraud Week with a look at two Connecticut behavioral health providers, one bad and one very, very bad. First, Alicia Thompkins, a social worker from Hartford, pleaded guilty on April 27 to Medicaid fraud, but received only a three-year suspended jail sentence and an order to pay $140,000 in…
An audit by the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) found that John Gore, a licensed drug and alcohol counselor, improperly billed and received over $1 million in Medicaid payments for services provided between 2016 and 2020. Gore will be required to repay the sum of $1,160,371.
Significantly, Gore billed for clinical level…
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut recently announced that Michael Lonski, a Greenwich psychologist, pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud. Lonski admitted to billing insurers for services that were not rendered, including for deceased patients, and for dates of service when he was out of the country, or his medical partner was out of…
On December 23, the U.S. Congress passed the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023,” the omnibus budget bill for fiscal year 2023 (HR 2617). The bill includes several provisions relating to Medicare coverage of telehealth, including extending some of the flexibilities that became effective at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The budget bill for…
As part of its 2023 state budget, New York State has allocated $1.2 billion for the payment of bonuses to certain frontline healthcare workers. This bonus program is intended to reward healthcare workers for their services during the COVID-19 pandemic and to promote employee retention and recruitment in the healthcare sector. Qualified employers who wish…
