TOPEKA – (December 14, 2018) – Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced today that Crossroads Hospice of Kansas has agreed to pay more than $300,000 to the Kansas Medicaid program for improper billing at a facility in Lenexa.
Earlier this month, Schmidt filed a lawsuit in Shawnee County District Court against Crossroads Hospice of Kansas, LLC, under the Kansas False Claims Act to recover overpayments made by the Kansas Medicaid program to Crossroads Hospice in 2012 and 2013. The suit alleges that certifications for 125 Medicaid beneficiaries were made by a Crossroads employee who was not appropriately credentialed. Under the False Claims Act, when a provider is alerted that claims made to the state are flawed, the provider is obligated to refund the money it was paid. If the refund is not timely made, enforcement is possible under the False Claims Act.
The case was investigated by the Kansas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General and the FBI. The focus of the investigation was the credentials of the healthcare provider who issued the certifications in question and the resulting overpayments by the Kansas Medicaid program to Crossroads.
Crossroads Hospice agreed to the terms of the settlement and the lawsuit has concluded. Earlier this week, Crossroads paid $312,500, which covered the overpayments and attorneys fees.
A copy of the settlement is available at https://bit.ly/2SLuQw7.