North Carolina DME Employee Agreed to be Permanently Excluded for Allegedly Making Unsolicited Telephone Calls to Beneficiaries and Paying Remuneration to Telemarketing Companies

An employee of a durable medical equipment (DME) company agreed to be permanently excluded from participating in Federal health care programs under 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7(b)(7). OIG alleged that the DME company employee caused unsolicited telephone calls to be made to Medicare beneficiaries to obtain orders for the furnishing of DME. The DME company later submitted claims to Medicare for DME allegedly provided to beneficiaries who had received the unsolicited telephone calls. OIG contends that the DME company employee knew or should have known that they were causing the submission of false or fraudulent claims because the orders for the DME were based on telephone solicitations prohibited by the Social Security Act's DME Telemarketing Provisions. OIG also contends that the DME company employee offered or paid remuneration in the form of monetary payments to telemarketing companies for the referral of individuals for the provision of DME that would be paid for by Medicare. OIG contends that the DME company employee's offering and paying for remuneration described above violated the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

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