A Forest Hill, Md.-based ambulance company will pay the U.S. $1.25 million to settle allegations of Medicare billing fraud, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Hart to Heart Transportation Services provides specialty care transport, ambulance, wheelchair and paratransit services in Maryland and Delaware.
The government alleged the company, its billing affiliate, EMS Billing Solutions, and their owners and operators from Jan. 2, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2017, submitted false claims to Medicare for non-medically necessary ambulance transport.
In doing so, those organizations violated the False Claims Act and received millions of tax dollars, the Justice Department said in a news release.
"Medically necessary ambulance transportation requires that a patient's medical condition is such that other methods of transportation are contraindicated, but Hart to Heart submitted a high rate of ambulance claims for patients who could have been transported by wheelchair van or other means," the department said.
The settlement resolves the government's allegations without admission of liability by Hart to Heart Transportation Services or its affiliates.
The allegations initially came to light in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Bryan Arvey, a former Hart to Heart employee.
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