Psychiatric Practice, Owner Agree to Pay $310,000 in FCA Settlement for Employing Doctor on OIG Exclusion List
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On February 23, 2022, a psychiatric practice and its owner agreed to pay $310,874 to resolve allegations they improperly hired and employed a physician who was excluded from federal healthcare programs. The physician who was hired was on the OIG's exclusion list, the "List of Excluded Individuals and Entities" (LEIE). As a result, the government took the position that claims for services the physician provided filed against government programs were illegal pursuant to the false Claims Act (FCA). Details were disclosed in a Press [...]
Florida Governor Signs New Controlled Substance Telemedicine Prescribing Law
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On April 6, 2022, Florida's Governor signed into law legislation to remove the state's prior restrictions on telemedicine prescribing of controlled substances. The new law in Florida allows healthcare providers to prescribe many controlled substances via telemedicine. Florida Senate Bill (SB) 312, signed into law, eliminates the prior ban that had existed prohibiting the prescription of Schedule II controlled drugs (with certain exceptions). Schedule II drugs can now be prescribed in Florida via telemedicine if the clinical situation meets one of four exceptions. A [...]
First COVID-19 Breathalyzer Test Authorized By FDA
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On April 14, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization for the first Covid-19 diagnostic test that uses breath samples. The test, made by Texas-based company, InspectIR Systems, is authorized for those patients 18 and older. InspectIR expects to produce approximately 100 testing instruments per week, which can each be used to evaluate approximately 160 samples per day. At this level of production, testing capacity using the InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer is expected to increase by about 64,000 samples [...]
Study Reveals 1 in 5 Medicare Recipients Use Medical Marijuana, 66% Agree It Should Be Covered
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law A new study has revealed that one in five Medicare recipients use medical marijuana and two-thirds think Medicare should cover it. MedicarePlans.com, a group examining various Medicare issues, commissioned the online poll of 1,250 Medicare recipients in April 2022. Two-thirds of those polled said they "strongly agree" or "agree" that medical marijuana should be covered by Medicare. Thirty-four percent said they "disagree" or "strongly disagree." More Details About Responses. In the poll, 23% admitted to using medical pot in the past, and 21% said [...]
COVID Uninsured Provider Relief Fund Expected To Run Out of Money Soon If Congress Doesn’t Act
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law In 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created the "Provider Relief Fund" (PRF) to help support healthcare providers in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal program has served as a lifeline to frontline healthcare workers who’ve experienced revenue losses and increased demand for their services during the pandemic. To date, it has allocated more than $178 billion in payments to over 410,000 providers across the United States. Click here to learn more. COVID-19 Uninsured Relief Fund. Let's start [...]
Licensed Professional Counselor Sentenced to Prison for $1.3 Million Medicaid Fraud Scheme
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On March 13, 2022, a licensed professional counselor (LPC) was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for defrauding the Connecticut Medicaid Program of more than $1.3 million, announced the U.S. Attorney for the U.S. District of Connecticut. In addition to the prison time, he was sentenced to three (3) years of supervised probation upon release and ordered to pay restitution to Medicaid in the amount of $1,313,322. A Wide-Ranging Fraud Scheme. According to court documents, from 2014 to 2020, the defendant was a [...]
Psychiatric Practice to Pay $310,000 in FCA Settlement for Employing Doctor on OIG Exclusion List
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On February 23, 2022, a psychiatric practice and its owner agreed to pay $310,874 to resolve allegations they improperly hired and employed a physician who was excluded from federal healthcare programs. The physician who was hired was on the OIG's exclusion list, the "List of Excluded Individuals and Entities" (LEIE). As a result, the government took the position that claims for services the physician provided filed against government programs were illegal pursuant to the false Claims Act (FCA). Details were disclosed in a Press [...]