Staten Island University Hospital to Pay the U.S. $74 Million to Settle Claims of Defrauding Federal Health Care Programs

WASHINGTON - Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) has agreed to pay the United States $74,032,565 to settle claims that the hospital defrauded Medicare, Medicaid and the military’s health insurance program, TRICARE, announced Benton J. Campbell, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Gregory G. Katsas, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. In addition, the hospital will pay the State of New York $14,883,883, representing damages sustained by the state’s Medicaid Program. In total, SIUH will pay $88,916,448.

Today’s settlement, in part, resolves suits filed on behalf of the government in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York by two individuals. Dr. Miguel Tirado, a former SIUH Director of Chemical Dependency Services, who filed suit under the federal False Claims Act and the New York State False Claims Act, alleged that the hospital had fraudulently billed Medicaid and Medicare for inpatient alcohol and substance abuse detoxification treatment. The government’s investigation established that, during the period July 1, 1994 through June 30, 2000, SIUH submitted claims for payment for detoxification treatment provided to patients in beds for which SIUH had received no certificate of operation from the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). More...