Attorney General Josh Stein Announces Nearly $10 Million Settlement with Rotech over Medicare and Medicaid False Claims

RALEIGH, NC (July 5, 2018)…Attorney General Josh Stein announced today that North Carolina has settled with Rotech Healthcare Inc., a Florida-based respiratory equipment supplier, over civil allegations that Rotech knowingly submitted false claims for portable oxygen contents to Medicare and Medicaid. The settlement is joined by 22 other states and the federal government. The total settlement is $9.95 million, of which North Carolina will receive $43,671.23.

“Cheating Medicare and Medicaid means cheating the taxpayer,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “My office will continue our work to keep fraud out of these important programs.”

Between 2009 and 2012, Rotech automatically billed Medicaid and Medicare for portable oxygen contents regardless of whether the beneficiaries used or needed portable oxygen and without obtaining the required proof of delivery. Rotech continued this practice despite knowing that it was submitting ineligible claims.

The North Carolina settlement agreement was reached by the Medicaid Investigations Division of the North Carolina Department of Justice and the North Carolina Division of Medical Assistance. A team appointed by the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units participated in the investigation and conducted settlement negotiations with Rotech on behalf of the settling states.

About the Medicaid Investigations Division (MID)
Attorney General Stein’s MID investigates fraud and abuse by healthcare companies and providers, as well as patient abuse and neglect in facilities that are funded by Medicaid.  Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that helps provide medical care for people with limited income. To date, the MID has recovered more than $500 million in restitution and penalties for North Carolina.