July 18, 2005
Media Contact: Jenn Meale
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Florida Receives $2.4 Million for Medicaid
TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Charlie Crist today announced that the taxpayer-supported Medicaid program will receive more than $2.4 million for Florida as part of a nationwide settlement with a healthcare corporation and a supply company it owns.
A federal investigation revealed that Gambro Healthcare and its supply company, Gambro Supply Corp., improperly billed both the federal Medicare program and the individual Medicaid programs in each state. Gambro operated a chain of clinics that provided care for end stage kidney disease, a terminal condition that requires regular dialysis treatment. Gambro Supply was operated as a shell company, which allowed the parent company to bill Medicaid for dialysis supplies at a much higher rate than otherwise would have been allowed.
"Defrauding Medicaid not only steals from the needy, but places an undue burden of responsibility on the shoulders of Florida taxpayers," said Crist. "This settlement will ease some of that burden and will help ensure that medical attention is available to those who need it most."
The settlement resolves allegations surrounding Gambro's bogus Medicaid billings for renal dialysis, unnecessary diagnostic tests and associated medications, as well as allegations of kickback payments to physicians who refer patients. The full amount of the nationwide settlement is $308.4 million, most of which will go to the federal Medicare program to provide healthcare for elderly patients. A total of $36 million of the nationwide settlement has been set aside for federal and state Medicaid programs, with Florida's federal and state share set at $2.4 million.
The lawsuit against Gambro Healthcare and Gambro Supply Corp. was initiated by a whistleblower in 2001. The settlement was negotiated by the Justice Department and the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.