Valley men paid nearly $2M fine in hospice case
Two men who are the founders of an Edinburg hospice and a related business have paid to resolve allegations they submitted claims to Medicare that resulted from unlawful referrals, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick announced in a news release.
Federal authorities began to look into the duo, who founded Allstate Hospice LLC and Verge Home Care LLC, a home health agency, in 2016 and found that Onder Ari, 49, of Edinburg, and Sedat Necipoglu, 48, of McAllen, offered compensation to physicians who were responsible for a significant majority of their patient referrals.
Specifically, the men provided physicians with monthly payments following medical directorship agreements with Allstate and Verge. Those payments were in excess of fair market value for the services the physicians actually provided, according to the release from the Southern District of Texas U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Ari and Necipoglu also sold interests in Allstate to five different physicians which ultimately netted them substantial quarterly dividends. They also provided physicians other gifts and benefits, such as travel and tickets to sporting events,” the release stated.
Read more: https://myrgv.com/local-news/2021/01/23/valley-men-paid-nearly-2m-fine-in-hospice-case/
(Brownsville Herald)