HOUSTON — United Memorial Medical Center, a hospital chain operating across Houston, has agreed to pay the federal government more than $2 million for allegedly overbilling for COVID-19 tests and medical care, according to the Justice Department.
According to a release sent out by the DOJ, the hospital billed the federal government for COVID-19 tests, even though it had already been reimbursed for them by the state or city. The DOJ also accuses UMMC of inflating its prices for care to get more reimbursement from Medicare.
“We depend upon medical providers to be good stewards of a community’s healthcare services and of the federally funded programs that pay for those services. UMMC made millions by overbilling those health care programs and intentionally double billing for COVID-19 testing," said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas." Instead of returning those monies to America’s taxpayers, they pocketed the money for themselves."
This all stems from a lawsuit that was brought on by a former UMMCC employee, who will get $300,000 as part of the settlement.
UMMC partnered with the Houston Health Department during the peak of the pandemic to run several drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites around the city. They were even praised by local politicians for helping in the fight against the pandemic.
