California Health Clinic and Executive Agree to Voluntary Exclusions

On November 17, 2019, in connection with the resolution of their False Claims Act liability, Norman Harr (Harr) and Horisons Unlimited Health Care (Horisons), with multiple locations in and around Merced, California, agreed to be excluded. Harr agreed to be excluded under 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7(b)(7) for a period of 15 years. Horisons agreed to be excluded under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1320a-7(b)(7) and (8) for a period of 20 years. OIG alleged that Harr and Horisons billed Federal health care programs for services they knew were not reimbursable, including billing for the following: (1) services provided by unlicensed and/or unqualified practitioners; (2) dental services not rendered; (3) reimbursable health care services when acupuncture, a non-reimbursable service, was actually provided; (4) visits with licensed doctors when patients actually received Ziploc baggies of Suboxone handed to them in the parking lots of McDonald's or Rite Aid; (5) non-reimbursable experimental treatments using incorrect generic medical and dental codes; (6) unnecessary medical testing; (7) unnecessary orthodontia; (8) visits with a licensed social worker rather than for a routine office visit in order to increase reimbursement; and (9) mycotic toenail care when the patient actually received a toenail clipping, which would not have been covered. OIG also alleged that Harr and Horisons altered medical records, including making up diagnoses, in order to obtain reimbursement to which they were otherwise not entitled, and received cash payments from a lab in exchange for referring Federal health care program patients for testing. Senior Counsel Andrea Treese Berlin represented OIG.

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