Federal prosecutors said on Thursday that Westchester Medical Center has agreed to pay $18.8 million to settle allegations of Medicare fraud and kickback.
The New York hospital operator allegedly violated the False Claims Act from 2000 to 2007 by making improper payments to Cardiology Consultants of Westchester in exchange of referrals and receiving false reimbursements, according to Reuters.
"Westchester Medical Center's aggressive, intricate kickbacks and other fraud schemes, in this case, threatened the impartiality of medical referrals, the financial integrity of Medicare, and the public's trust in the health care system," Scott Lampert, a special agent for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.
The settlement was approved by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan.
About $4 million of the settlement will be given to Chris Carrs, widow of the whistleblower Dan Bisk, who pursued the case even after her husband died in 2009. Bisk was a former compliance officer of Westchester Medical Center.
"Dan took his responsibilities to the hospital and to the legal system seriously," Carrs said in a statement. "It was with reluctance but integrity that he moved the process forward."
Cardiology Consultants was not charged. Westchester Medical Center, on the other hand, said that the violations were incurred by the previous management. The hospital operator has developed a new compliance program since then, the Associated Press reported.
This is not the first time that Westchester Medical Center is accused of submitting false reimbursement claims. In 2012, the Manhattan court approved a settlement of $7 million for civil damages under the False Claim Act. The hospital was accused of double-charging Medicaid for outpatient mental health services without having the required documentation.
