The State Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has reached an agreement with Snyder Transportation, doing business as First Call, to recover what the government agency said was more than $330,000 in “excess payments” submitted for Medicaid claims.
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a statement Thursday that First Call “overbilled Medicaid for transports involving multiple passengers by billing the higher rate fare for single passenger transports, rather than the lower rate fare appropriate for multiple-passenger transports.”
“The investigation also discovered that, contrary to Medicaid billing requirements, documentation for medical transports billed to Medicaid was often insufficient and sometimes altogether lacking at First Call,” the statement said.
The investigation covered a period from Sept. 25, 2009, through June 1, 2011. First Call is a division of Buffalo-based Snyder Corp.
First Call, in a statement, said it cooperated with the Attorney General’s Office and that all of the money reimbursed to the state “was for services that were in fact performed. The attorney general did not find otherwise.”
First Call said it agreed with a document audit conducted by the attorney general that found its record keeping and paperwork were “not kept as required by regulation.” First Call said the business underwent an ownership change in 2009, and the audit took place in a period immediately after the purchase. The company said its management team found the inherited computer systems were “faulty” and billing and record-keeping procedures were inadequate, and began making changes even before the audit.
First Call said it has hired a full-time compliance officer and updated relevant parts of its compliance manual.
In addition to the $331,952 Snyder Transportation agreed to pay, the State Attorney General’s Office said it received nearly $10,676 from First Call’s chief executive officer to cover the costs of its investigation.
“Our office continues to vigilantly pursue Medicaid program monies improperly paid to companies at the expense of New York taxpayers,” Schneiderman said. “Through the unlawful overbilling of Medicaid, First Call shortchanged New York State taxpayers. We can’t afford to waste a single penny during these tough economic times.”
email: mglynn@buffnews.com
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a statement Thursday that First Call “overbilled Medicaid for transports involving multiple passengers by billing the higher rate fare for single passenger transports, rather than the lower rate fare appropriate for multiple-passenger transports.”
“The investigation also discovered that, contrary to Medicaid billing requirements, documentation for medical transports billed to Medicaid was often insufficient and sometimes altogether lacking at First Call,” the statement said.
The investigation covered a period from Sept. 25, 2009, through June 1, 2011. First Call is a division of Buffalo-based Snyder Corp.
First Call, in a statement, said it cooperated with the Attorney General’s Office and that all of the money reimbursed to the state “was for services that were in fact performed. The attorney general did not find otherwise.”
First Call said it agreed with a document audit conducted by the attorney general that found its record keeping and paperwork were “not kept as required by regulation.” First Call said the business underwent an ownership change in 2009, and the audit took place in a period immediately after the purchase. The company said its management team found the inherited computer systems were “faulty” and billing and record-keeping procedures were inadequate, and began making changes even before the audit.
First Call said it has hired a full-time compliance officer and updated relevant parts of its compliance manual.
In addition to the $331,952 Snyder Transportation agreed to pay, the State Attorney General’s Office said it received nearly $10,676 from First Call’s chief executive officer to cover the costs of its investigation.
“Our office continues to vigilantly pursue Medicaid program monies improperly paid to companies at the expense of New York taxpayers,” Schneiderman said. “Through the unlawful overbilling of Medicaid, First Call shortchanged New York State taxpayers. We can’t afford to waste a single penny during these tough economic times.”
email: mglynn@buffnews.com