People line up to enter CityMD, a health clinic offering coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing on the Upper West Side, as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread in Manhattan, New York City, USA, December 19, 2021.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
WalgreensCityMD, which is receiving assistance, will pay $12.04 million to settle coronavirus fraud claims. Department of JusticeThe ministry made the announcement on Friday.
City MD, which operates more than 100 walk-in urgent care clinics in New York and New Jersey, is accused of submitting false claims to a coronavirus program reserved for uninsured patients and receiving fraudulent government reimbursements for coronavirus testing from February 2020 through April 2022, even though the patients had health insurance.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey False Claims ActA law that encourages whistleblowers who file lawsuits related to potential fraud to sue by paying them a portion of any profits the government would make if they were successful in their lawsuit.
“Uninsured Americans at risk of contracting COVID-19 were protected by emergency funding programs so they could get the testing, vaccines, and treatment they need,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Selinger said in a statement Friday. “The alleged misuse of these funds is something we cannot and will not tolerate.”
City MD patient Steven Kitzinger initially 2020As a reward for reporting the incident to the government, Kitzinger will receive a settlement of more than $2 million.
Kitzinger’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
According to the Justice Department, CityMD cooperated with the government’s investigation and hired a third-party firm to help the government determine how much it lost as a result of the alleged fraud.
City MD denies the allegations but said it decided to settle to avoid the costs of protracted litigation.
“This settlement is neither an admission of liability nor an admission of wrongdoing, and City MD denies the allegations. However, we settled to avoid the cost and burden of protracted litigation,” a City MD spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC on Saturday. “City MD is proud of the medical care we have provided to our patients throughout the pandemic.”
