Clarksville, Tenn.-based Premier Medical Group will pay $2.8 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare and Tricare for services that nonphysician practitioners provided, using physicians’ National Provider Identifier numbers.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee announced the settlement Nov. 2. The alleged improper billing ran from Nov. 1, 2018, through May 31, 2023.
Premier Medical Group, a multiphysician practice, did not admit liability. The government said the claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only.
“Federal health care programs depend on providers following the rules and billing taxpayers accurately,” U.S. Attorney Braden Boucek said. Mr. Boucek added that improper claims undermine programs that millions of Americans rely on, including service members and veterans.
The Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s Southeast Field Office, part of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, investigated the case. Nakia Alexander, acting special agent in charge of that field office, said holding fraudulent providers accountable is essential to protecting Tricare, the military’s primary health program.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wynn Shuford represented the government.
The settlement covers about four and a half years of claims to two federal programs that serve seniors, service members, military retirees and their families.
META: Premier Medical Group will pay $2.8M to settle allegations it billed Medicare and Tricare for
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