Sep
13
Written by:
admin
9/13/2011 2:04 PM
The deal ends an investigation into allegations that the hospitals submitted false claims to Medicaid and Medicare from January 2005 to August 2010. Both hospitals are owned by Ohio Valley Health Education & Services Corporation. OVMC is in Wheeling, and East Ohio is in Martins Ferry, Ohio.
U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II said the penalty is severe because the compensation agreements the hospitals had with local physicians were improper under federal law and involved significant amounts of money.
"Illegal agreements like these drive up the cost of health care, and in the end, we all pay for it in the form of higher taxes," he said.
Ihlenfeld said prosecutors will now go after the doctors, demanding they return the prohibited payments and pay fines.
"A physician who believes he is in violation of the Stark Act may come forward and self-report the noncompliance," he said. "While there are never any guarantees, self-reporting may lead to less formal and more lenient settlement proceedings, depending upon the circumstances involved."
The parent corporation issued a statement saying it had reported the problems on its own and has since taken steps to correct them.
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