Industry News

OIG Issues Updated Civil Monetary Penalties Report.

Jennifer Kirchner | September 2013

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report summarizing updated civil monetary penalties issued to facilities for false and fraudulent billing and patient dumping over the last month. Five separate facilities were fined between approximately $80,000 and $380,000 each for employing individuals the facilities knew or should have known were excluded from participation in Federal health care programs. Additionally, two Iowa hospitals were fined $25,000 and $30,000 for violating the patient dumping statute by failing to provide an appropriate medical screening examination and delaying the provision of stabilizing treatment, respectively, prior to transferring the patients to another facility based in part on the patients’ status as IowaCare patients.

The OIG report on updated civil monetary penalties is available at:

http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/enforcement/cmp/patient_dumping.asp.

Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “Civil Monetary Penalties and Affirmative Exclusions: False and Fraudulent Claims and Patient Dumping.” 12 Sept. 2013.

About the Author

Jennifer Kirchner is a licensed attorney in Illinois and Wisconsin. Ms. Kirchner has expertise in assessing provider compliance with the Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, the False Claims Act, HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules and clinical research laws and regulations.