A New Jersey doctor has pleaded guilty to accepting kickbacks in return for Medicare patient referrals, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector-General (HHS-IG).
Dr. William Lagrada, 52, of Edison, N.J., pleaded guilty to accepting cash kickback payments from Orange Community MRI in exchange for patient referrals. Lagrada was one of 13 doctors and one nurse practicioner federal authorities recorded accepting envelopes of cash in eachange for the patient referrals. The others were charged separately last December.
Lagrada will forfeit the $69,880 he received in the kickbacks and faces up to five years in federal prison and a $25,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 17, 2012. He was convicted on one count of violating the federal healthcare program anti-kickback statute. Go here for more on the Lagrada case.
An IG report isn’t always bad news …
Indiana healthcare officials reduced costs for home blood-glucose test strips provided to Medicaid patients by 50 percent simply by making effective use of manufacturer rebates, according to the HHS-IG. The savings were achieved using a waiver received from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“The net cost of test strips obtained through Indiana’s manufacturer rebate program was significantly lower than the Indiana Medicaid maximum reimbursement rate of $36.72. Indiana has two separate manufacturer rebate contracts that reduced the net cost to $17.72 or $14.70 per 50-unit pack,” the HHS-IG said in its report.
“Overall, the Indiana Medicaid program achieved savings of approximately $1.2 million during the period January 1, 2011, through June 30, 2011, through the use of manufacturer rebates for test strips. The State agency’s resourceful use of manufacturer rebates led to significantly reduced costs that provided mutual benefits to the State and Federal government, while maintaining access to test strips for Medicare beneficiaries,” the report said. You can read the report here.
Open Secrets has back-stories on Romney veep candidates …
OpenSecrets.org is running a multi-part series that looks at the financial backing behind prominently mentioned possible candidates for the vice-president slot for Mitt Romney’s Republican presidential nomination campaign.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire is the most recent of the five candidates profiled so far. Of Ayotte, OpenSecrets. org reports that “most first-time federal candidates have to do without much support from political action committees, which typically favor incumbents. Ayotte faced no such challenge in her open-seat contest, however; she raised over $1 million from PACs during her 2010 campaign, making up nearly one quarter of her total funds. Another $2.7 million came from individual donations of over $200. The numbers don’t lie; Ayotte, from her first national campaign, demonstrated a facility for getting institutions and politically active individuals to open their wallets.”
Others profiled thus far include House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Mark Tapscott is executive editor of The Washington Examiner.
