Urgent care center operator Bloom Care has agreed to pay $3 million to settle allegations that it submitted false claims to federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary testing and inflated the extent of services performed.
What happened?
- Bloom Care operated urgent care centers in Idaho and New Mexico throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a July 15 Justice Department news release.
- The department alleged that the company knowingly used the pandemic as an excuse to bill medically unnecessary streptococcus and influenza tests for asymptomatic patients.
- The company also allegedly submitted claims for high-level evaluation and management services for COVID-19 patients that it knew should have been billed at a lower level of service. To justify the high reimbursement claims, Bloom allegedly exaggerated the time spent with COVID-19 patients or the complexity of the evaluation required to care for them.
- The claims resolved in the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no admission or determination of liability.
