Behavioral Health Center Settles Medicare Dispute
Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center has paid more than $2 million to resolve allegations that the facility overbilled Medicare and Medi-Cal in the 1990s, the San Bernardino County Sun reports. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program (Wall, San Bernardino County Sun, 4/26).
Loma Linda officials paid the settlement on Friday, the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles announced on Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleged that Healthcare Financial Advisors, a consulting firm, helped the facility prepare a set of inflated cost reports that were submitted to Medicare, as well as a separate set of cost reports for internal use that more accurately reflected Medicare reimbursements the facility actually was owed (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 4/25).
Loma Linda admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement (Los Angeles Times, 4/26).