An Idaho-based clinic chain and its owners have agreed to pay $2 million to settle allegations they used vulnerable or inexperienced medical staff to fraudulently bill federal healthcare programs.
AmeriHealth and owners Ryan and Alban Hatch also resolved, without admitting wrongdoing, allegations that they violated the Controlled Substances Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute and that they fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans, according to a Jan. 17 Justice Department news release.
The clinic chain's owners are accused of hiring vulnerable, compromised and inexperienced medical staff who were then pressured into providing unnecessary care, according to the release. They also allegedly pressured practitioners to prescribe controlled substances, entered into an unlawful kickback scheme with a third-party laboratory and falsely certified information to obtain forgiveness of a PPP loan worth more than $750,000.