$12.3 million in illegal double billing nets a $1.5 million fine…………..
A Texas hospital and radiology group settled a federal lawsuit with the U.S. Attorney’s office Tuesday over illegal double billing, KRIS-TV reported.
According to federal prosecutors, Driscoll Children’s Hospital-owned Children’s Physician Services of South Texas and Radiology Associates each billed the government for the same procedure over five years, resulting in at least $12.3 million in wrongful reimbursement, according to the report.
“Prosecutors said the children’s clinic billed the government twice, once for the cost of taking the genetic ultrasound and once for the cost of interpreting the ultrasound, despite an agreement with the radiology clinic that each office would only bill for one component of the exam,” according to the article. The ultrasounds were ordered for women with risky pregnancies.
The settlement left Driscoll Health with a $1.5 million bill and Radiology Associates with $800,000. Driscoll Children’s Hospital, in a statement, called the claims a “matter of interpretation” and said the hospital system settled “to avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience and expense of protracted litigation,” KRIS-TV reported
