The owner and CEO of an inpatient drug treatment center in New York admitted to partaking in a Medicaid billing scheme, state Attorney General Letitia James said Dec. 21.
Steven Yohay, the owner and CEO of Addiction Care Interventions Chemical Dependency Treatment in New York City, agreed to reimburse the New York state Medicaid program $3 million for fraudulent billing. The treatment center agreed to pay another $3 million.
Fraudulent behavior included paying individuals who did not show up to work, bribing potential Medicaid patients into treatment, and allowing Medicaid patients to enroll in inpatient treatment without evaluation from a healthcare professional. The attorney general's office said the center instead used fraudulent signatures from medical providers that were photocopied onto medical forms.
Under the agreement with the attorney general's office, all owners of the center must divest their ownership from the organization. Mr. Yohay agreed to have his participation as a provider in any government-funded healthcare program revoked for 15 years.
The case against the treatment center and Mr. Yohay was brought forth by a former employee through a whistleblower lawsuit.