by Ben Vernia | January 10th, 2011
On December 22, the OIG-HHS and the United States Attorney in Arizona announced that a Yuma City, Arizona, physician had agreed to pay $92,000 to resolve allegations that he submitted medically unnecessary Medicare claims. According to OIG-HHS’s press release:
Ray A. Silao, M.D., a physician practicing in Yuma, Ariz., has agreed to pay the federal government $92,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the federal False Claims Act by submitting false bills to Medicare.
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The settlement agreement resolves allegations that Dr. Silao falsely billed Medicare for Thoracic Electrical Bioimpedance (TEB) (also known as Biothoracic Impedance (BTI)) tests by representing that the patients receiving the tests met applicable Medicare coverage requirements when, in fact, the patients did not meet any of the requirements. Two other Arizona physicians previously entered settlement agreements to resolve similar allegations relating to the submission of false bills to Medicare for TEB/BTI. In March 2010, Kevin S. Klopfenstein, M.D., a physician practicing in Parker, Ariz., agreed to pay the federal government $430,000, and in October 2010, Edward J. Quinn, M.D., a physician practicing in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., agreed to pay the federal government $395,000.
