Health Connect America, Medicaid Fraud, Virginia 2023

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Virginia have collected over $20 million in civil and criminal actions in Fiscal Year 2023, with a significant portion coming from a major settlement with a healthcare company.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Western District of Virginia collected $20,747,820.84 in criminal and civil actions in FY 2023. Of this amount, $13,068,847.12 was collected in criminal actions and $7,678,973.72 was collected in civil actions.

Additionally, the Western District of Virginia worked with other U.S. Attorney's Offices and components of the U.S. Attorney's Office to collect an additional $40,042,441.35 in cases pursued jointly by these offices.

My Office is committed to pursuing justice, both criminally and civilly, in order to protect the interests of the United States in every city, town, and county in the Western District of Virginia, said United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh. As federal prosecutors, we have numerous tools we use to ensure that defendants are deprived of the ill-gotten financial gains of their criminal activity. These numbers, along with other metrics, prove that the Western District of Virginia is the wrong place for criminals to operate.

In July 2023, the Western District of Virginia recovered $4.6 million as part of the settlement in the Health Connect America (HCA) case. HCA, headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee with locations in Big Stone Gap and Culpeper, Virginia, agreed to pay $4,611,375 to resolve allegations that it billed Virginia Medicaid for services not provided. Specifically, the allegations involved HCA billing Medicaid improperly for three separate behavioral health services available to children who qualify.

The U.S. Attorneys' Offices, along with the U.S. Attorney's Office, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

The U.S. Attorney's office for the Western District of Virginia, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $19,321,456 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2023. Forfeited assets deposited into the U.S. Attorney's Office Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdva/pr/us-attorneys-office-collects-over-20-million-civil-and-criminal-actions-fiscal-year