By Brendan Browne
The owners of a Jamaica Estates health center have agreed to pay back $11 million to taxpayers for Medicaid payments improperly paid to them between 1996 and 2001, plus the interest on the payments, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said.
Stanley and Judith Dicker incorrectly classified certain administrative expenses on their Medicaid reports at the Hillside Manor Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center, inflating the cost of office visits to the tune of about $9 million, Spitzer said.
The married couple followed the same pattern at another health center they own in Highland, N.Y. At Hudson Valley Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center they took in nearly $2 million improperly, Spitzer said.
There was no criminal intent on the Dickers’ part, said Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for the attorney general. They simply made a mistake in the filing of their Medicaid payment forms, he said.
“There was never any (criminal) wrongdoing,” said Lonnie Soury, spokesman for Hillside Manor at 182-15 Hillside Ave.. The health center offers day-time care for seniors and a rehabilitation center for people of all ages.
According to the investigation conducted by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, several non-reimbursable management fees were erroneously factored into the rates billed for therapists, nurses, and aides employed by Hillside Manor starting in 1994 .
That improperly boosted certain fees associated with each visit to the center by $13, Spitzer said.
“The recovery of these tax dollars will help ensure that the needs of Medicaid patients are properly met,” said Spitzer. “Once the problem was brought to the attention of the providers, they agreed to reimburse the state.”
The improper payments were discovered in January by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit during a statewide auditor’s review of health-care providers, said Ryan.
“We are fully cooperating with the attorney general’s office, and we are pleased to have reached a resolution to this matter so that we can continue to provide high-quality care to our long-term home-health care clients,” said Soury.
Over the last three years the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has been reimbursed by more than $58 million for improper payments made to medical care providers statewide, said Ryan. That is a 300 percent increase from the previous three years, he added.
An additional $43 million in overpayments statewide has also been recently discovered and will be paid back within the next few years, Ryan said. “It’s great for the taxpayers,” he said.
Reach reporter Brendan Browne by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 155.
