Numotion Agrees to $7 Million Settlement for Allegedly Submitting False Claims to Medicaid Programs in Kentucky, other states

Lexington, Ky.–Numotion, a national supplier of durable medical equipment (DME), has paid $7 million to settle civil allegations that it made false statements in connection with claims for reimbursement it submitted to Medicaid in Kentucky, Missouri, and D.C, according to a US Justice Department release.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit originally brought by a former Numotion employee under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. As part of the resolution, the former employee will receive approximately $1.05 million of the settlement amount. The lawsuit was filed in Lexington with the US District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky.

The investigation into Numotion focused on manually priced DME reimbursed by Medicaid programs based on the cost Numotion actually paid the manufacturer for the equipment. The United States alleged that Numotion did not disclose all discounts or the actual cost paid to DME manufacturers when submitting claims for manually priced DME to Kentucky Medicaid, two Kentucky Medicaid MCOs, MO HealthNet, and D.C. Medicaid.

As a result of Numotion’s nondisclosures, these Medicaid programs paid it higher reimbursements than it was entitled to receive. The conduct violated the False Claims Act, which prohibits knowingly making or using a false statement material to a false claim for reimbursement. Numotion has also entered into a 5-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

According to Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, “Whenever the valuable resources of government health care programs are improperly dissipated to those who are not entitled, it diminishes the ability of these programs to meet the needs of their beneficiaries. We remain committed to doing our part to protect these programs from fraud, waste, and abuse and to preserve the taxpayer money that supports them.”

Photo: Numotion office off Fortune Drive in Lexington, Ky