The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against owners of an Illinois healthcare company alleging they defrauded Medicare millions of dollars.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, claims Matteson, Ill.-based Gateway Health Systems owners Ajibola Ayeni, MD, and Joy Turner-Ayeni violated the False Claims Act by improperly billing and receiving Medicare reimbursement for medically unnecessary and nonexistent home health services.
In addition, the lawsuit claims home-visiting physician company Docs at the Door, also in Matteson and owned by Dr. Ayeni, fraudulently upcoded home physician visits to inflate Medicare reimbursement. Docs at the Door also falsely certified nonhomebound individuals as in need of home care from 2011 to 2015, the lawsuit alleges. Dr. Ayeni pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges.
The DOJ's lawsuit is an intervention in a whistle-blower case filed under seal in 2013 pursuant to qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.
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