The U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina has settled claims of healthcare fraud with Drayer Physical Therapy Institute LLC, a company that has two offices in Peachtree City and one in Newnan and a total of 130 clinics in 16 states.
Acting United States Attorney Beth Drake announced on July 5 that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina has settled claims of healthcare fraud with Drayer Physical Therapy Institute, LLC. Drayer has locations in South Carolina and 14 other states from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma. The company’s website, www.drayerpt.com, lists operations in a total of 16 states.
“The United States contended that Drayer submitted claims to Medicare, TRICARE and Federal Employee Health Benefit programs for services being provided to multiple patients simultaneously as though the services were being provided by a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant to one patient at a time,” Drake said.
Drake said the investigation began with the filing of a whistleblower lawsuit called a qui tams (whistleblower) lawsuit under the False Claims Act.
“The suit was filed by former employees of Drayer. The False Claim Act allows the government to recover actual damages and penalties of three times the actual damages and up to $11,000 per false claim,” said Drake. “This settlement was reached based on Drayer’s ability to pay.”
Drake noted that the False Claims Act allows individuals to file lawsuits with allegations that fraud has been committed against the federal government on behalf of the government. Whistleblowers, referred to as “Relators” in the False Claims Act, are entitled to share in any recovery received by the government.
“In this case, the two relators collectively will receive 24 percent of the funds of the settlement or $1,680,000 plus they are entitled to attorney fees,” said Drake. “The relators performed significant work in the investigation of this case.”
Drake also commented on the relevance of whistleblower lawsuits.
“Whistleblower cases are important to the integrity of the health care system,” she said. “These civil actions, targeted to routing out fraud and abuse, protect taxpayers and patients by ensuring that healthcare decisions are made according to medical science and not based on dollar signs.”
Also commenting on the settlement, Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General said, “Healthcare companies must bill taxpayer-funded health programs honestly. Those engaging in deceptive billing practices can expect our aggressive investigation to recover inappropriately obtained funds.”
Drake noted that the claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
To view the U.S. Attorney’s document visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/drayer-physical-therapy-institute-llc-settle-false-claims-act-case-7000000.
