PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A Maine hospital has agreed to a $1.5 million civil settlement for overbilling Medicare and MaineCare for urinalysis drug screening tests.
U.S. Attorney Halsey Frank says the Mercy Recovery Center in Westbrook was accused of overbilling for the drug screening tests from 2011 to 2013. In October 2013, the hospital was acquired by Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems.
Federal officials say Mercy cooperated with the investigation.
Authorities say the drug screening tests should have been bundled and billed as one claim per patient encounter but were billed separately for each test. They say the result was that Medicare and MaineCare overpaid Mercy on multiple claims.
A spokesman for Mercy Hospital says the conduct the complaint describes happened before Mercy joined EMHS. The spokesman says "when EMHS became aware of the conduct it ceased."
