Government
Texas med school pays $1.7 million for overcharging government programs
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 1, 2005
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston will pay the federal government $1.7 million for overcharging Medicare and Medicaid for care some patients received during a six-year span. Overbilling accounted for $1.1 million of that sum; the remaining $600,000 is a penalty.
UTMB officials said they overbilled the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services for services provided in its department of ophthalmology and visual sciences between 1995 and 2001.
UTMB spokeswoman Jennifer Reynolds-Sanchez called the discrepancy a result of "billing errors." She said once UTMB discovered the errors, it disclosed them to the HHS Office of Inspector General, which conducted an investigation.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/08/01/gvbf0801.htm.
