NYC Accused By Feds Of Ripping Off Medicaid With False Claims
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The federal government has filed a lawsuit against New York City, alleging that the city ripped off Medicaid for millions of dollars by submitting tens of thousands of false claims.
The civil lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages, was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
The lawsuit named the city and Computer Sciences Corp. as defendants. The suit claimed the city and CSC used computer programs to dodge a requirement that Medicaid be billed only after private insurance coverage is exhausted.
The city and the company were also accused of using a defaulting program to submit false diagnostic codes to Medicaid.
Through the schemes, the city was able to obtain millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements it was not really owed, the lawsuit alleged.
"As alleged, CSC and the City created computer programs that systematically, and fraudulently, altered billing data in order to get paid by Medicaid as quickly as possible and as much as possible," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a news release. "Billing frauds like those alleged undermine the integrity of public healthcare programs like Medicaid. All public healthcare program participants, whether they are healthcare providers, localities like the City, or contractors like CSC, should understand that they must comply with the applicable billing rules."
The city's law office said in a statement that it strongly disagrees with the claims and the city acted appropriately.
It said the case involves ``technical billing issues, not fraud.''
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