Genesis Medical Center in Davenport, Iowa, has agreed to pay $1.88 million to the federal government to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act, according to the Department of Justice.
The government alleged Genesis violated the False Claims Act by improperly retaining Medicare overpayments for hospital inpatient admission claims from Jan. 1, 2013, to Dec. 31, 2016. The government alleged the claims should have been billed as outpatient or observation services, which have a lower reimbursement rate.
"Our office will aggressively use the False Claims Act to ensure all healthcare providers play by the same rules and taxpayers do not pay the bill for unnecessary services," said Marc Krickbaum, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. "This recovery sends the message to healthcare providers there will be consequences if they fail to comply with state and federal regulations."
Mr. Krickbaum said Genesis cooperated with the investigation.
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