Iredell Health System Subsidiary Agrees To Pay Over $130,000 To Resolve Allegations That It Improperly Retained Overpayments Owed To Medicare And Medicaid Programs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Statesville-based Iredell Physician Network, LLC (IPN) has agreed to pay $138,612 to resolve the allegations that it knowingly avoided an obligation to repay money owed to the Medicare and Medicaid programs, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. 

IPN is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iredell Health System, which operates a hospital and multiple medical practices in and around Statesville, North Carolina. The settlement resolves allegations that IPN knowingly retained overpayments, or payments to which it was not entitled, obtained as the result of its billing for evaluation and management services performed by one of its providers during the time period of January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2019. 

The allegations arose from a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower under the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the government for false claims and share in any recovery. The act also allows the government to intervene and take over the action. The government conducted the investigation and intervened in this action to effectuate the settlement.

The lawsuit resolved by this settlement is United States ex rel. Jill Reid v. Iredell Physician Network, LLC and Ruby Grimm, M.D., Case No. (5:20-cv-73), filed in the Western District of North Carolina. The claims resolved in this settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Assistant United States Attorneys Julia Wood and Katherine Armstrong of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are in charge of the civil proceedings.