The former owner and operator of a Houston area ambulance company, National Care EMS recently agreed to settle allegations that his company provided kickbacks to nursing facilities and hospitals in exchange for rights to those institutions’ Medicare and Medicaid transport referrals. The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting or receiving payment to induce referrals of services covered by federal health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. The case alleged that National Care EMS provided free and heavily discounted ambulance transports to various nursing facilities in exchange for the referral of other Medicare and Medicaid business. The settlement resulted from a coordinated effort among the US Attorney’s office and Texas Attorney General’s office. Bartimus Frickleton Robertson Rader partner Tony Dewitt represented Dan Block, the EMS executive who blew the whistle on the company’s fraud and received a share of the recovery.
