Omni Home Care, a home health care agency in Evansville, Ind., and its parent corporation, Omni Home Health, have agreed to pay the United States $1.97 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act between 2006 and 2008, by failing to obtain certain required physician approvals before submitting bills for home health services to Medicare, the Justice Department announced today.
Under the Medicare program, a physician must sign plan of care forms for the initial home care, and must re-certify the plan at least every 60 days. In August 2008, Omni submitted a disclosure to the Office of Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services, in which Omni stated that the required physician signatures were not timely obtained for certain services provided at its Evansville, Ind., facility. The settlement announced today resulted from the company's disclosure.
"With the nation's focus on health care, this settlement demonstrates the Justice Department's commitment to ensuring that federal health care dollars are spent appropriately," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. "It also serves as a reminder that those who come forward promptly, disclose their violations of the law and cooperate fully with the department will be dealt with fairly."
The case was handled by the Justice Department's Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
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