Another Plaintiff’s Firm Required to Reimburse Medicare

If you attended our webinar last week, you know that Medicare has been seeking recovery from plaintiff’s firms when there has been a failure to ensure conditional payment claims are properly reimbursed. We have even covered some of the cases here on the blog. Click here and here to read more.

In the present case, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that the Angino Law Firm, P.C. a plaintiffs’ firm in Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay the United States $53,295 to resolve liability following allegations that the firm refused to repay Medicare for the treatment conditionally paid on behalf of their client, the plaintiff in the original settlement. The current settlement required that the Angino Law Firm pay the United States $19,545.15 and Bio-Medical Applications of Pennsylvania paid the Government $33,750, an amount that was placed in escrow from the settlement funds.

U.S. Attorney David J. Freed stated that the “Medicare benefits are a vital lifeline for thousands of citizens in the Middle District of Pennsylvania”. Attorney Freed noted that the “Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit is focused on making sure that such funds are appropriately billed and spent, and recovered when the situation requires”, explaining that “[t]he health of our Medicare beneficiaries is far too important for our office to stand on the sidelines.” The announcement is available here on the U.S. Department of Justice’s website.

The government has demonstrated a willingness to prioritize the recovery of conditional payments made by Medicare and the present case is just another example of the importance of ensuring these claims are properly handled. As always, if you require assistance with the handling of such claims, we are happy to help!