TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The owner of the Florida Ambulance Company has agreed to pay $900,000 to resolve a false claim claim, the Central Florida Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
The DOJ said it has agreed to a settlement to resolve allegations that Coursyy Transport Services and its owners Melanie Burger and Dr. John Milanick had fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid due to a claim for ambulance transport services that is not medically necessary.
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According to the settlement agreement, from June 1, 2013 to June 30, 2019, Transport Services filed claims with Medicare and Medicaid for basic life support, non-emergency ambulance transport services.
The lawyer said, “The services were medically reasonable and not necessary and the patient did not require ambulance transport or the service was not actually provided to the patient, so it was not refundable.
“False and fraudulent claims in ambulances harm both the integrity of important federal health programs and the elderly who rely on them,” Attorney Gregory W. Keho said. “Our office is committed to collecting taxpayer money from fraud and abuse in these programs and retains people who file liability for false claims.”
The DOJ said the settlement would settle lawsuits filed by former courtesy employees under the whistleblower clause of the False Claims Act.
“The only claim settled by the settlement was a complaint and there was no liability decision,” DOJ said in a news release.
