The owners of a Florida medical transportation company have agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging they defrauded Medicare and Medicaid.
United States Attorney Gregory Kehoe with the Middle District of Florida announced Tuesday the owners of Courtesy Transport Services, Melanie Burger and Dr. John Milanick of Ocala, have agreed to pay $900,000 for alleged fraudulent billing by the transport service.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by a former Courtesy employee who alleged the owners submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid for non-emergency ambulance services that are not reimbursable. According to Kehoe's release, in some cases, transport services were not actually provided to the patients at all.
Kehoe said the company submitted the false claims from June 1, 2013 though June 20, 2019.
“False and fraudulent claims for ambulance services harm both the integrity of important federal healthcare programs as well as the seniors who rely on them,” Kehoe said.
The Courtesy employee who filed the lawsuit will receive a share of the settlement proceeds, as stipulated in the False Claims Act, totaling $171,000, according to Kehoe.
“You know, it might just be time we take a look if HOAs are really even necessary.
Maybe we should just do away with homeowner associations as a whole.”
South Florida lawmaker Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) says it may be time to do away with homeowners associations altogether, as more Floridians speak out about rising fees, costly lawsuits, and even arrests tied to HOA disputes. He said this week that he is considering filing legislation in the next session that would abolish HOAs statewide.
