Two Stamford medical practices will pay $866,539 to the state of Connecticut and the federal government to settle allegations of submitting inflated government health insurance bills, blood testing fraud and COVID-19-related fraud, according to the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General.
Dr. Steven Murphy, owner of Murphy Medical Associates and Diagnostic & Medical Specialist of Greenwich, will pay $583,310 to the United States and $283,229 to Connecticut, Attorney General William Tong said. Murphy and his practices agreed to be excluded from all federal health care programs and the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program (CMAP) for three years, Tong said.
“Medical overbilling erodes public trust, wastes vital public resources, and is against the law,” Tong said. “My office stands ready with our federal and state partners to take action against anyone who abuses the system.”
Tong launched an investigation into Murphy’s billing practices in May 2020. It found that Murphy ran an in-house lab where he performed blood tests on patients with potential exposure to COVID-19, according to Tong’s office.
Each blood test was not paid for and was falsely billed to Medicare and Medicaid, Tong’s office said.
The federal government said that Murphy and his practices never did blood tests because he didn’t have the reagents needed to perform the blood tests that were billed.
Murphy’s practices were part of the Uninsured Program. The Uninsured Program reimburses health care providers for COVID-19 testing and treatment for uninsured individuals. COAG said that Murphy allegedly copied insurance cards, claiming his patients submitted claims for reimbursement.
Anyone who suspects healthcare fraud is encouraged to report it by calling 1-800-HHS-TIPS or the Health Care Fraud Task Force at (203) 777-631.
