THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS: HEALTH CARE FRAUD REPORT - JUNE 26, 2002
Massachusetts Program to Receive Funds From Settlement of Overcharging Allegations
Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly (D) June 6 announced that the state Medicaid program will receive about $92,000 as part of a settlement involving alleged overcharges for services to developmentally disabled people.
The settlement involves Tenet MetroWest Healthcare Limited Partnership in Ashland, Mass. Reilly's office said an investigation that started in 1998 found that the MetroWest Daily Habilitation Program exaggerated conditions of disabled patients to secure higher Medicaid funding.
Reilly's office charged that as a result of MetroWest's activity, the daily rate paid by Medicaid rose from $57.20 to $77.64.
Assistant Attorney General Peter Clark, who directs the AG's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, handled the settlement with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Roberta Brown from the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. Investigations were conducted by Catherine Fielding and John Curley of Reilly's office.
A spokesman for Tenet's parent company, Tenet Healthcare Corp., said the company has discharged the program's director and terminated the program, a center for mentally handicapped adults, since learning of the investigation.
"As soon as we were alerted, we cooperated," the spokesman for Tenet, based in Santa Barbara, Calif., said. "We did what we could to make sure that this was fully investigated."
Tenet Healthcare acquired MetroWest Medical Center in 1999, after Reilly's office began its investigation into the Medical Center's habilitation program's practices. The AG's office said it did not find any wrongdoing on the part of Tenet Healthcare.
