Attorney General, DSS Announce Supreme Court Victory Upholding $200,000 Restitution Order, Medicaid Ban Against Farmington Firm
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Michael P. Starkowski today praised a recent Connecticut Supreme Court decision that upholds a restitution and suspension order against Goldstar Medical, Inc. of Farmington and its owner for defrauding the state's Medicaid program.
(PressZoom) - Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Department of Social Services ( DSS ) Commissioner Michael P. Starkowski today praised a recent Connecticut Supreme Court decision that upholds a restitution and suspension order against Goldstar Medical, Inc. of Farmington and its owner for defrauding the state's Medicaid program.
In 2005, DSS ordered Goldstar, which supplies therapeutic oxygen to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, to pay the state $198,193 in restitution. DSS also suspended the company and owner Donald F. Bouchard from the state Medicaid program for five years.
The state found that Bouchard and Goldstar employees, acting on Bouchard's orders, employed a variety of schemes to defraud the Medicaid program, including submission of payment claims for uncovered services and services not ordered by a physician, double-billing and illegal alteration of documents.
Bouchard has repeatedly sought to dodge and fight the state order, but the Supreme Court has upheld it.
Blumenthal said, "This victory ends attempts by Goldstar and Bouchard to evade accountability for health care fraud. Now they must refund taxpayers for their wrongdoing. Goldstar over billed Medicaid, charged the state for services never provided, and altered physicians' documents. After the state uncovered Goldstar's lawbreaking, the company aggressively and arrogantly fought an order of restitution and suspension. The Supreme Court -- upholding the state's order -- has roundly rejected efforts to avoid refunds and other remedies.
"This case should send a stark message that Medicaid fraud will be vigorously pursued, and wrongdoers will be held to their penalties."
Starkowski said, "While the great majority of vendors in the Medicaid program are honest and forthright, Connecticut and other states must constantly employ fraud prevention and enforcement measures to root out incidents of abuse. The Goldstar case was an example of this. The department would closely scrutinize any request to re-enter the program after the suspension period."
For patients who need small amounts of oxygen, the state Medicaid program requires long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, to use devices called concentrators that remove oxygen from the air instead of bottled oxygen.
Blumenthal's office presented evidence, including testimony from former Goldstar employees, showing that Bouchard and other company employees altered documents to make it appear that patients needing small amounts of oxygen needed more. As a result, patients who should have received oxygen from a concentrator, which already is included in the patient's nursing home rate, instead received Goldstar-supplied bottled oxygen at an extra charge to Medicaid. The scam also caused Medicaid to pay Goldstar for unneeded oxygen.
Goldstar also charged Medicaid for medical equipment that it never delivered to long-term care facilities.
Blumenthal thanked those in his office who worked on the case, particularly Assistant Attorneys General Michael Cole, Linda Russo, Robert Teitelman and Arnold Menchel, as well as Lead Investigator Jeffrey Meyers, former Assistant Attorney General Ted Doolittle and retired investigator George Pekarski.
Submitted by
ct.gov
Release Date
This news item was released on 2008-12-03. Please make sure to visit the official company or organization web site to learn more about the original release date. See our disclaimer for more information.
(c) PressZoom.com - Press Release Distribution Service - All Rights Reserved
