Medicare and Medicaid

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on September 18 that cardiologist Klaus Peter Rentrop and his practice, Gramercy Cardiac Diagnostic Services, P.C., agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle allegations that they violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law. Rentrop admitted to paying physicians millions of dollars in…

The American Bar Association has published the second edition of “The Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Safe Harbors: A History and Practice Guide.” Written by Geoffrey R. Kaiser and Ada Janocinska, the book is a comprehensive reference for one of the nation’s most commonly cited, investigated and enforced health care fraud and abuse laws.

The book…

On Thursday, September 14, in the next installment of Rivkin Radler’s Healthcare Compliance Lunch & Learn series, Rivkin Radler partner Eric D. Fader will present an update on the regulatory landscape for the provision of telehealth services, including recent changes to federal and state laws and rules.  The program will take place from 12:00 noon…

On August 18, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) published an Advisory Opinion warning that a common arrangement under which surgeons profit from referrals of their patients for intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) services can violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). The Advisory Opinion, the first significant public commentary on…

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey recently announced that Alexander Schleider of Lakewood pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in a durable medical equipment (DME) kickback scheme.

Schleider owned and operated several DME companies that provided orthotic braces to beneficiaries of Medicare and other healthcare benefit programs regardless of…

New York State Attorney General Letitia James recently announced that the owner and manager of Santiago Pharmacy in Flushing, Queens, were indicted for paying kickbacks to Medicaid recipients in exchange for filling their HIV prescriptions at the pharmacy.

Juan Poveda, the owner, and Javier Burbano, the pharmacy manager, were charged with grand larceny, health care…

The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that Morris Park Nursing Home, a skilled nursing facility in the Bronx, and two individuals agreed to pay a total of $3.46 million to resolve federal Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act violations. The schemes included paying cash kickbacks to a supervisor at a nearby hospital in exchange…

In the next installment of Rivkin Radler’s Healthcare Compliance Lunch & Learn series, Rivkin Radler’s Bob Hussar and John Queenan will discuss the seventh required elements of an Effective Compliance Program: Responding to Compliance Issues.

Bob is a partner in Rivkin Radler’s Compliance, Investigations & White Collar and Health Services practice groups. John is a…

On May 2, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced that the United States has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act (FCA) against James McGuckin, an interventional radiologist. The complaint alleges that McGuckin and his affiliated entities billed Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program for more than…

The U.S Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut announced on May 9 that Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. and Northeast Medical Group, Inc. have paid $560,718.48 to resolve federal and state False Claims Act (FCA) allegations. The hospital system allegedly submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid for services provided by mid-level providers…