PROVIDENCE – Thanks to a $16.5 million settlement between the federal government and several states, Rhode Island will receive $172,513 for its Medicaid program.
The money comes as the result of deal between Ohio-based Omnicare Inc., which is a provider of drugs and pharmacy services to nursing home. It was alleged to have offered financial incentives to skilled nursing facilities that would have kept Omnicare as the supplier of pharmaceuticals to Medicaid patients. The federal government said that the conduct violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and resulted in false claims being submitted to the Rhode Island Medicaid program.
In addition, the case against Omnicare, which is the pharmacy provider for nursing home residents covered by the Ocean State’s Medicaid program, alleged that Omnicare sold drugs at below cost to induce nursing homes to choose the company to be the pharmacy provider to the state’s Medicaid population.
“Companies that engage in illegal behavior to line their pockets at the expense of patients and taxpayers will not be tolerated,” said R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin in a release announcing the award. “As Medicaid is one of the largest items in our state budget, every dollar of fraud and abuse we can recover adds to the financial health of a vital safety net program.”
The original whistleblower lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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