- Office of Attorney General Maura Healey
Media Contact for Clinical Laboratory Will Pay $1.5 Million To Resolve Medicaid Kickback and False Claims Allegations
Thomas Dalton, Deputy Press Secretary
BOSTON — An independent clinical laboratory with locations in Rhode Island and Vermont has entered into a settlement agreement resolving kickback and false claims allegations, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.
Dominion Diagnostics of North Kingstown, Rhode Island will pay $1.5 million to the MassHealth program to resolve allegations that it engaged in an illegal kickback relationship with a New Bedford-based clinical laboratory. According to the AG’s Office, Dominion agreed to make payments to the lab in exchange for referrals of urine drug tests. The AG’s Office also contends that Dominion submitted claims to MassHealth for urine drug tests coming from sober houses and performed for residential monitoring purposes, which are not considered medically necessary and not covered by MassHealth. The AG’s Office further alleges that the New Bedford lab submitted claims to MassHealth for urine drug tests performed by Dominion when such tests were required to have been billed by Dominion as the testing laboratory.
In addition to the payment, Dominion revised its internal compliance program. Dominion fully cooperated with the AG’s investigation.
This agreement is being handled by Managing Attorney Jennifer Goldstein, Assistant Attorney General Kevin O’Keefe, Senior Healthcare Fraud Investigator Shelby Stephens, and Senior Healthcare Fraud Investigator William Welsh, all of the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Division.
The Massachusetts Medicaid Fraud Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $5,542,963 for Federal fiscal year 2023. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $1,847,641 for FY 2023, is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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