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| DK Coding Advisory | |||||
Note! If You Market Your Care Around Medical Equipment, Make Sure to Review the "Scooter Store" Case | |||||
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A copy of this Advisory |
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| Drafted by: DK Coding | |||||
| (President: David Klein, CPC, CHC) |
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Recently, the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) announced a settlement with the Scooter Store, Inc. The settlement was based on allegations that the Scooter Store had violated the civil False Claims Act and had defrauded the United States. According to a May 11, 2007 USDOJ press release, the United States had "alleged that The Scooter Store engaged in a multi-media advertising campaign to entice beneficiaries to obtain power scooters…. Instead of the 'zippy' power scooters that were advertised, The Scooter Store sold the beneficiaries expensive power wheelchairs that they did not want, need, and/or could not use." The release also reported that "[m]any beneficiaries had no idea what kind of equipment they were getting, until it was delivered by the Scooter Store." As part of the settlement, the Scooter Store will pay $4 million to the United States and will also give up more than $43 million in claims outstanding with Medicare. The settlement also entails a statutory award of $3,228,251 to a former employee who apparently had filed a lawsuit as a "whistleblower" against the Scooter Store under the False Claims whistleblower provisions. A copy of the USDOJ press release is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/May/07_civ_344.html. |
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