MedStar Health To Pay U.S. $35M, Resolving Allegations That It Paid Kickbacks
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- MedStar Health in Columbia, Md., MedStar Union Memorial Hospital and MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center have agreed to pay the United States $35 million to settle allegations under the False Claims Act that it paid kickbacks to MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates (MACVA) in exchange for referrals through a series of professional services contracts at Union Memorial and Franklin Square Hospitals.
Kickbacks are arrangements made between providers in which one party refers patients to another through services, goods or medicines.
The allegations resolved in the settlement include the payment of kickbacks to MACVA under the guise of professional services agreements in return for MACVA's referrals to Union Memorial of lucrative cardiovascular procedures from Jan. 1, 2006, through July 31, 2011.
Under the settlement, MedStar also agrees to settle allegations that it received Medicare payments from Jan. 1, 2006, through Dec. 28, 2012, for medically unnecessary stents performed by John Wang, a one-time employee of MACVA who was later employed by MedStar.
The settlement was a result of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook