NRI doc to pay $ 5.7 mn in false claim case

Boston: An Indian-American physician will pay more than $5 million to the US government to settle allegations that he submitted false claims to health-care programmes.

Rakesh Nathu, a Las Vegas physician, has agreed to pay pay 5.7 million dollars plus interest as settlement, the Justice Department has announced.

The government alleges that Nathu submitted improper claims to health-care programmes Medicare, TRICARE and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan from 2007 to 2009 in which he double billed for several procedures affiliated with radiation treatment plans, billed for certain high reimbursement radiation oncology services when a different, less expensive service should have been billed and claimed money back for medically unnecessary radiation oncology services.

The government alleges that Nathu submitted improper claims to health-care programmes Medicare.

"We expect that physicians who participate in federal health care programmes will bill for their services accurately and honestly," Assistant Attorney General for the Department s Civil Division Tony West said.

"This case is about stealing millions of dollars from taxpayers," Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services Daniel Levinson said. "We will continue to fight this kind of unconscionable abuse of our Medicare programme."

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