Florida Attorney General Bill McCullom is investigating 18 hospitals throughout the state for improper Medicaid billing of emergency services, according to a Miami Herald report.
Hospitals under investigation include Jackson Memorial Hospital, Baptist Hospital, Miami Children's Hospital, all located in Miami, and Homestead (Fla.) Hospital, Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla., and North Broward Medical Center in Pompano Beach, Fla.
Three hospitals have already settled with the state. St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Fla., Lakeland (Fla.) Regional Medical Center and All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., agreed to pay a combined $566,004 to settle the investigation without admitting any wrongdoing.
The investigation is looking specifically at Medicaid payments for patients in the ER that don't truly need emergency treatments. While specific details of the investigation were not released, a spokesperson for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit said the investigation deals with possible false claims for Medicaid payments related to "screening and/or non-emergency services," according to the report.
The investigation is taking place at the same time 10 Florida hospitals have legally challenged the state's Agency for Health Care Administration, alleging it is improperly denying payment for outpatient-type services provided in the ER, according to the report.
Read the Miami Herald's report on the Florida Medicaid false claims investigation.
Read more coverage on false claims investigations:
- Nine Hospitals Agree to Pay More Than $9.4M to Resolve Kyphoplasty-Related False Claims Allegations
- Three Minnesota Hospitals Pay $2.28M to Settle Medicare Fraud Allegations
Hospitals under investigation include Jackson Memorial Hospital, Baptist Hospital, Miami Children's Hospital, all located in Miami, and Homestead (Fla.) Hospital, Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla., and North Broward Medical Center in Pompano Beach, Fla.
Three hospitals have already settled with the state. St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Fla., Lakeland (Fla.) Regional Medical Center and All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., agreed to pay a combined $566,004 to settle the investigation without admitting any wrongdoing.
The investigation is looking specifically at Medicaid payments for patients in the ER that don't truly need emergency treatments. While specific details of the investigation were not released, a spokesperson for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit said the investigation deals with possible false claims for Medicaid payments related to "screening and/or non-emergency services," according to the report.
The investigation is taking place at the same time 10 Florida hospitals have legally challenged the state's Agency for Health Care Administration, alleging it is improperly denying payment for outpatient-type services provided in the ER, according to the report.
Read the Miami Herald's report on the Florida Medicaid false claims investigation.
Read more coverage on false claims investigations:
- Nine Hospitals Agree to Pay More Than $9.4M to Resolve Kyphoplasty-Related False Claims Allegations
- Three Minnesota Hospitals Pay $2.28M to Settle Medicare Fraud Allegations