People wait in line to enter CityMD, a medical clinic offering coronavirus disease (Covid-19) testing, on the Upper West Side as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread in Manhattan, New York City, United States, December 19, 2021 .
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Walgreens-Supported cityMD will pay $12.04 million to settle Covid scam The allegations were made by Department of JusticeThe ministry announced on Friday.
From February 2020 to April 2022, the urgent care provider allegedly received fraudulent government reimbursements for Covid tests by submitting false claims to the authorized Covid program. designated specifically for uninsured patients, even if their patients have health insurance.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey brought the following charges False Claims Acta law that encourages whistleblowers to file lawsuits related to potential fraud by offering them a portion of the government’s winnings in successful lawsuits.
Stephen Kitzinger, a CityMD patient, initially alleged fraud 2020. As a reward for bringing the case to the government’s attention, Kitzinger will receive more than $2 million in settlement money.
CityMD, which operates more than 100 walk-in urgent care facilities in New York and New Jersey, cooperated with the government’s investigation and hired a third-party company to help the government determine the amount lost relevance due to fraud allegations, according to the DOJ.
“Uninsured Americans at risk from COVID-19 were covered by emergency funding programs intended to provide them the tests, vaccines and treatments they need.” “The alleged misuse of these funds is something we cannot and will not tolerate.”
Walgreens did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of regular business hours.
