Kaiser Permanente Hawaii penalized $1.9 million for defrauding Medicaid & Medicare — Whistleblower receives $225,000
April 15, 2005, from Pacific Business News:
The U.S. and state attorneys general have penalized Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group $1.9 million for making improper Medicare and Medicaid claims.
Kaiser was penalized $1 million for submitting false federal Medicare claims and $900,000 for improper state Medicaid claims.
A Kaiser employee claimed that an employee in the dermatology department had treated patients without a required state license between May 1984 and December 2001, which was confirmed by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, state Attorney General Mark Bennett announced Thursday.
The state said the employee who provided the treatment wasn’t a licensed physician’s assistant although Kaiser billed the state Medicaid program for the services provided.
The state also found that Kaiser failed to properly supervise the treatments, although the investigation didn’t reveal any evidence of improper care, substandard treatment or injury to Kaiser patients.
Read the Corporate Integrity Agreement between Kaiser Permanente Hawaii and the Office of the Inspector General here.
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