Nov 04, 2009 (JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DOCUMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS/ContentWorks via
COMTEX) -- WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2009 (202) 514-2007
UNITED STATES INTERVENES IN FALSE CLAIMS ACT SUIT
AGAINST VIRGINIA MEDICAID PROVIDERS
WASHINGTON - The United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia have intervened
in a False Claims Act suit in the Western District of Virginia against the
Medicaid providers Universal Health Services Inc., Keystone Marion LLC and
Keystone Education and Youth Services LLC, the Justice Department announced
today. They did business as the Keystone Marion Youth Center, a residential
facility in Marion, Va., that receives Medicaid funds to provide psychiatric
counseling and treatment for boys ages 11-17.
This False Claims Act lawsuit was filed by several former therapists who worked
at the Marion residential facility. The suit alleges that defendants provided
sub-standard care to adolescents in violation of federal and state Medicaid
requirements, falsified records to cover up their serious violations and filed
false Medicaid claims. Under the False Claims Act, a health care provider that
submits false or fraudulent claims to a federal health care program is liable
for three times the government's damages, plus a civil penalty for each false
claim.
"The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that Medicaid recipients,
particularly troubled adolescents in need of psychiatric services, receive the
appropriate care and treatment they require," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney
General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "We must protect
Medicaid from fraudulent practices that deprive beneficiaries of the quality
health care they deserve."
"The Medicaid program was designed to ensure that the most vulnerable members of
our society receive quality medical care. The intervention in this suit
demonstrates our commitment in the Western District of Virginia to protecting
the integrity of Medicaid funds and holding those who violate the law
accountable," said U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy.
Assistant Attorney General West acknowledged the efforts made by the Civil
Division of the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western
District of Virginia, the Virginia Attorney General's office, the Department of
Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General and the Commonwealth
of Virginia's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
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