A primary care physician from Houston has agreed to pay restitution to resolve allegations that he fraudulently certified various patients for home health services, receiving payments that were improper as a result.
Federal authorities opened an investigation in 2016 into Unified Medical Group Inc., which is a home health agency. Through their work, investigators found that Truc Le, a 51-year-old osteopathic medicine doctor, certified some patients for home health services, even though he didn’t have prior knowledge of their medical conditions or status as being homebound.
Le is alleged to have signed forms that were regularly provided to him by representatives at the company.
Le then received improper payments from the company that were considered to be kickbacks. The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits companies from paying remuneration, or offering to pay it, to convince people to refer services or items that could be covered by federal programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.
Any claims that are fraudulently submitted to these programs under these false pretenses are liable under the False Claims Act.
As part of an agreement, Le will pay $475,000 in restitution to settle the claim.