Best Choice Home Health Care Agency Inc. and its owner, Reginald King, are at the center of a kickback scheme that has cost taxpayers dearly.
Best Choice Home Health Care Agency Inc., a home healthcare services provider based in Kansas City, Kansas, and King, its owner and operator, have agreed to pay $1.8 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks for the referral of Medicaid-covered patients for home and community-based healthcare services from Best Choice.
The scheme allegedly began on July 1, 2010, and ended on December 31, 2014. During this time, Best Choice submitted claims for home and community-based healthcare services to Medicaid that resulted from a kickback arrangement between King, on behalf of Best Choice and Christopher Thomas, who transported patients from their homes to healthcare facilities in Kansas City.
Under this alleged arrangement, King paid Thomas $58,000 in kickbacks for new patients referred to Best Choice based on a formula which accounted for each hour of service that Best Choice billed to Medicaid.
“The government will continue to hold accountable entities and individuals that engage in illegal kickback schemes for the referral of patients,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Civil Division. “It is critically important that we protect the integrity of government health care programs by ensuring that services are provided based on clinical considerations rather than the financial interests of those who refer patients for care.”
The settlement resolves allegations originally brought under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act by Thomas, the recipient of the alleged kickbacks.
Of the $1.8 million that King and Best Choice will pay under the settlement, the United States will receive $1,011,780 and the state of Kansas will receive $788,220.
The whistleblower reward in this case will be $43,178 which represents 10 percent of the federal share of the settlement, minus the amount that the relator received in kickbacks during the duration of the scheme.
The settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability. The qui tam case is docketed as United States ex rel. Thomas v. Best Choice Home Health Care Agency, Inc., and Reginald King, No. 1:13-cv-2209 (D. Kan.).
Best Choice Home Health Care Agency Inc. and Reginald King, Kickback Scheme, Kansas 2014
Defendant: Best Choice Home Health Care Agency Inc. and Reginald King
Criminal Charges: Violating the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks for the referral of Medicaid-covered patients for home and community-based healthcare services
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Date: July 1, 2010 – December 31, 2014
Outcome: Agreed to pay $1.8 million to resolve allegations
Dollar Amount: $1.8 million
Related Federal Cases
- Joe White, Health Care Fraud Scheme, Texas 2014 · Iowa
- Cathy Harvill and William Harvill, Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud, Texas 2014 · Kansas
- Vivian Yusuf, Health Care Fraud, Texas 2007 · Kansas
- Kari Mannino, Health Care Fraud, Texas 2023 · Kansas
- Tariq Mahmood, Health Care Fraud, Texas 2013 · Kansas
Key Facts
- State: Kansas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
US NewsUS NewsUS NewsUS News