Associated Press
WHEELING, W. Va. — A Hardy County ambulance service will pay the federal government more than $1 million to settle charges it submitted false claims to Medicaid and Medicare.
U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced the settlement with Mathias-Baker EMS in Baker on Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors had accused the EMS service of billing for non-emergency transports between May 2008 and January 2010.
Investigators say the patients were being taken to routine medical appointments, even though their medical conditions didn’t require ambulance transport.
Ihlenfeld says the federal programs shouldn’t be billed when less expensive means of travel is available. He says it’s fraudulent and won’t be tolerated.
He also urged any other ambulance provider that may have committed similar violations to self-report the infractions. That could lead to less formal and more lenient settlement proceedings.