An ENT physician group in Texas accused of an upcoding scheme has paid $750,000 to settle the allegations, the U.S. attorney's office said June 23.
El Paso Ear, Nose & Throat Associates allegedly submitted false claims to federal healthcare programs billing for services at a higher reimbursement rate than they would be entitled to. One of the programs that received upcoded claims was Tricare, which provides services for more than 9.6 million people.
"Providers who line their pockets by over-billing for medical care increase medical costs for all of us and drain critical funds from Medicare and other government health programs," U.S. Attorney Ashley Hoff said.