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EMS agency involved in federal suit over Medicare fraud

Powell County EMS has been accused of billing the federal government for 2,400 fraudulent transfers since 2012

By EMS1 Staff

POWELL COUNTY, Ky. — An EMS agency is being sued for allegedly billing the federal government for fraudulent Medicare transfers.

WKYT reported that Chris Miller, the whistleblower in the lawsuit, estimated there have been 2,400 fraudulent transfers made by Powell County EMS since 2012.

“When you bill the federal government, we’re all paying for that. They’re stealing our money,” Miller said. “One of the rules is if you can walk to the ambulance it’s not medically necessary.”

Miller said the EMS agency would falsely label a call as medically necessary.

“They were pre-marking these transfers as medically necessary before even evaluating the patient,” he said.

Miller also said he believes the same thing is happening in other counties.

“No doubt about that. This is not the only place this is going on. This is an issue that they’re seeing more and more of,” he said.

Powell County Judge James Anderson believes if the allegations were true, the billing company would have seen it.

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