Becker's ASC Review

35 HEALTHCARE NEWS 35 15 Texas physicians to pay $2.8M to settle kickback allegations By Carly Behm F ieen Texas physicians will pay a total of $2.83 million to resolve False Claim Act allegations involving kickbacks, the Justice Department said June 28. e payments will resolve allegations that the 15 physicians violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law. e physicians al- legedly received remuneration payments from nine management service organizations in exchange for ordering lab tests. e labs involved include Rockdale, Texas-based Little River Healthcare, True Health Diagnostics in Richmond, Va., and Boston Heart Diagnostics Corp., according to a news release. Along with the settlement, the physicians agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department's investigation. e physicians involved in the settlement are: 1. Louis Coates, DO 2. Jason DeMattia, MD 3. Candice DeMattia, MD 4. Emanuel Descant II, MD 5. Mitchell Finnie, MD 6. Mark Le, MD 7. Richard Le, MD 8. Robert Laningham, MD 9. Rodney Laningham, MD 10. Andres Mesa, MD 11. Melissa Miskell, DO 12. Marco Munoz, MD 13. Kozhaya Sokhon, MD 14. Annie Varughese, MD 15. Paul Worrell, DO A total of 33 Texas physicians have settled related healthcare allega- tions, the Justice Department said. n Medicare's physician pay system is 'unsustainable,' trustees say By Patsy Newitt T he current physician payment system is poten- tially unsustainable in the long term, accord- ing to a June report from Medicare trustees to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris. The report said the Medicare Access and CHIP Reau- thorization Act, a payment system for Medicare physi- cian fees that replaced the sustainable growth rate formula in 2016, "raises important long-range concerns that will almost certainly need to be addressed by future legislation." The report from the boards of trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medi- cal Insurance trust funds laid out why the payment system could be unsustainable. Three things to know: 1. Most physicians will face Medicare pay cuts start- ing in 2025 due to the expiration of the $500 million exceptional performance bonus in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System and 5 percent incentive payment for qualifying Alternative Payment Model participants. The result, the report said, is a payment reduction for most physicians 2. By 2048, the trustees estimate, physician payment rates under MACRA will be lower than they would have been under the sustainable growth formula — about 30 percent lower by end of the period projected. 3. Unless there is a change in the delivery system or level of update by subsequent legislation, the report says, the trustees expect compensation to Medicare- participating physicians to become a "significant issue in the long term." n Ascension St. Vincent abruptly closes 11 immediate care centers By Ayla Ellison A scension St. Vincent gave one day's notice that it was closing 11 immediate care centers by the end of the day June 30, according to the India- napolis Star. Officials didn't provide a reason for the closures, which did not affect primary care physician's offices attached to the immediate care centers. Employees of the immediate care centers will be offered comparable jobs at another Ascension location, according to a statement from Ascen- sion Medical Group St. Vincent. The immediate care centers that closed are located across Indiana in Broad Ripple, Brownsburg, Fishers, Anderson, Crawfordsville, Elwood, Frankfort and Kokomo. The system also closed three immediate care centers in Evansville, Ind., according to the Indianapolis Star. n

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