ROANOKE, Va. – A family-owned Roanoke business has to pay $2.1 million after fraudulently charging Medicare and Virginia Medicaid for medicine.
Back in June 2020, Allergy and Asthma Associates (AAA) pleaded guilty for billing Medicare and Virginia Medicaid $627,540 for prescriptions medicine they did not purchase.
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“When a medical practice fraudulently bills our Medicare and Medicaid programs, it diverts funds from the most vulnerable in our communities and must be held accountable,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel Bubar. “Today’s civil resolution coupled with AAA’s criminal conviction in June marks the end of a lengthy investigation and demonstrates that we will work closely with our federal and state partners to hold providers responsible for healthcare fraud.”
From January 2010 to September 2017, AAA bought Xolair, a prescription medicine used to treat asthma, and then submitted improper billings to both Medicare and Virginia Medicaid.
Reports also show that the company bought 129 vials of Xolair that weren’t given to Medicaid patients, costing the health care program $88,878.
The practice will pay $1,994,607 in settlement fees to the United States government and $154,648 to Virginia for violating the false claims act.