Company pays $7 million over alleged false Medicaid bills in Kentucky, other states
A medical-equipment company has paid $7 million to settle allegations that it made false statements in seeking Medicaid payments in Kentucky.
The settlement is with United Seating and Mobility LLC, which does business under the name Numotion, according to a news release from Carlton S. Shier IV, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Numotion is a supplier of medical equipment such as wheelchairs and hospital beds. It does business across the country.
A company whistleblower alleged in a federal lawsuit that Numotion filed false claims to get paid for supplying equipment to Medicaid beneficiaries.
The examples cited in the complaint included billing Medicaid for equipment with new parts, when the parts were actually used, and not disclosing the true cost of devices the company supplied.
The federal government, which later joined the lawsuit, alleged that Numotion didn’t disclose all discounts it received from equipment manufacturers. That resulted in Medicaid paying the company more than it was entitled to receive for the equipment, according to the news release.
The settlement covered claims in Kentucky, Missouri and Washington, D.C.
The company did not admit liability as part of the settlement, according to the news release.
The whistleblower, L. Richard Parkey, lived in Kentucky and was a manager for Numotion when he filed the initial complaint in 2017.
The complaint was filed under the federal False Claims Act, which allows people to file alleged claims of fraud involving taxpayer money on behalf of the U.S. and receive a share of money recovered.
Parkey will receive $1.05 million under the settlement, according to the news release.
Numotion also agreed to changes in its compliance program and to have an outside organization review some of its Medicare and Medicaid claims.
“By hiding or failing to disclose discounts, to receive higher reimbursement from Medicaid programs across the country, Numotion prioritized its financial incentives, to the detriment of these Medicaid programs,” Shier said in a news release. “Whenever the valuable resources of government health care programs are improperly dissipated to those who are not entitled, it diminishes the ability of these programs to meet the needs of their beneficiaries.”
The attorneys representing Parkey in the initial complaint were Mark Wohlander, in Lexington; Justin Peterson and Mary Lauren Melton with the Golden Law Office in Lexington; and Benjamin Vernia in Washington, D.C.
Assistant U.S Attorney Jennifer A. Williams represented the government.
