FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CIV TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1997 (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 FOUR HEALTH CARE GROUPS PAY U.S. OVER $2 MILLION FOR FRAUD WASHINGTON, D.C. -- One of the nation's largest suppliers of durable medical equipment and three health care providers will pay the United States more than $2 million to settle allegations they sought to defraud the Medicare program through sham contracts and kickbacks, the Department of Justice announced today. Assistant Attorney General Frank W. Hunger of the Civil Division and U.S. Attorney Kent B. Alexander of Atlanta, Georgia, said Apria Healthcare Group Inc. will pay the United States $1,650,000 and Georgia Lung Associates, a group of four physicians practicing in Austell, Georgia, will pay $346,000. Paso del Norte Health Foundation of El Paso, Texas (f/k/a Providence Memorial Hospital), and Physicians Pharmacy Inc. of Georgia will pay $24,000. "We want all health care providers who participate in the Medicare program to understand clearly that the Inspector General's Office of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice will investigate and prosecute those who try to defraud this vital program for America's elderly," said Hunger. HHS Inspector General June Gibbs Brown said, "Health care fraud continues to be the major priority of our offices. It is particularly important in this era of health care change for the government to hold businesses strictly accountable for any misconduct while providing services to Medicare patients." Alexander said, "We cannot and will not tolerate any abuses in the Medicare program. One of the highest priorities we have is to maintain the integrity of this program through vigorous enforcement of the law." The Department said Apria, an oxygen supplier, submitted false Medicare claims for patients whose referrals it received through a kickback scheme it operated in Georgia and Florida. The United States alleged that Apria entered into sham consulting contracts with Georgia Lung and other physicians in order to induce referrals. George Lung, for example, referred Medicare patients to Apria for oxygen supplies. The agreement settles claims that Apria and Georgia Lung defrauded Medicare by billing for patients referred pursuant to the kickback scheme. The agreement with Paso de Norte settles allegations made by a private whistleblower that it provided referrals to Apria in exchange for compensation, while Physicians Pharmacy's settlement resolves allegations by the same whistleblower that it received referrals from GLA based on a financial interest held by a GLA physician, the Department said. Brown said the Office of the Inspector General of HHS and Apria agreed separately to a "Corporate Integrity Agreement" in which Apria agreed to undertake measures to ensure compliance with applicable laws and Medicare rules and regulations in the future. The agreement requires, for example, that Apria establish a confidential disclosure program enabling employees to report any inappropriate practices or billing procedures. The agreement settles a dispute originally brought as a qui tam case in the United States District Court in Atlanta in United States ex rel. Parker v. Apria, Civil Action No. 1:95-cv-2142-FMH. As part of the settlement, Mark Parker, who filed the suit on behalf of the United States, will receive approximately $454,839 of the recoveries. The case was conducted jointly by the Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney's office in Atlanta with the assistance of HHS' Offices of Inspector General in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, and the Atlanta office of the FBI. ##### 97-049