Cardiac group agrees to pay 1.3 million fine
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Kansas cardiologist Joseph P. Galichia and his practice, Galichia Medical Group P.A., have agreed to pay the United States $1.3 million to settle claims that he and his group submitted false claims to Medicare between 2001 and 2006, which violated the False Claims Act.
The government contends that claims were submitted for services not provided, and in other instances, claims were submitted without proper documentation, according to information from the U.S. Department of Justice.
It is the second time that Galichia and his group have paid money to settle False Claims Act violations.
In May 2000, Galichia and Galichia Medical Group agreed to pay more than $1.5 million to settle a previous False Claims Act matter. In that case, the government contended that between 1993 and 1998, Galichia billed Medicare for a higher level of services than provided (up-coding), billed twice for the same services, and billed for services not provided.
As part of the $1.3 million settlement, Galichia and Galichia Medical Group have entered into an Integrity Agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. The Integrity Agreement contains measures to ensure compliance with Medicare regulations and policies in the future.
“Exposing Medicare fraud is a top government priority,” Lewis Morris, chief counsel to the inspector general of the Department of Health & Human Services, said in a news release. “We will aggressively pursue both individuals and companies seeking to enrich themselves by cheating U.S. taxpayers and the nation’s health-care system.”
madpoet (anonymous) says...
Scary. My father goes there. My grandfather went there before he passed away. Surely, there is something more to the story since they have been busted twice. Really weird.
March 4, 2009 at 2:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weltha (anonymous) says...
Yeah, No joke madpoet.
March 4, 2009 at 2:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Busted twice! Apparently, once wasn't enough. Either that or they figured they wouldn't get caught a second time. Wanna bet G & G will just blame it on the office manager?
It's time for Galichia to be blackballed from any government payments period, Medicare, Tricare, or Medicaid. And patients need to find another doctor. Put this scam artist out of business!
Of course, this must be part of "let the business world do their thing and grow without rules."
March 4, 2009 at 6:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )