The Deadline is up
As you may recall our investigative series in early November mentioned that LabCorp was given until the 1st of December to submit copies of all paperwork with its five largest healthcare organizations. That day has come and gone and LabCorp has still not complied with the order issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.
- Accused of exchanging lower-cost services for physician referrals, better known as `pull through practices`, the company was mandated to provide data concerning all correspondences between the parties in question including:
- Presentations and reports in reference to pull-through policies
- Extensive financial data
- All copies of lab service agreements
- Communications related to arbitration of contracts
- Exhibitions made to clinical laboratory testing providers
- And any other documents that may relate to so-called `pull through` deals involving Medicare and Medicaid patients.
Cigna, Aetna Inc., United health Group and Quest Diagnostics Inc. are also under current investigation. According to the Times-News there is an estimation that the fraud could result in billions of dollars. It is not clear if the allegations have been refuted, but a staff member of the Judiciary Committee says that the files have yet to be submitted. Senator Chuck Grassly of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senator Max Baucus of the Senate Finance Committee, who are responsible for putting this in motion, have said, ``As the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, we take serious our responsibility to protect the interests of our nation`s Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and the federal health care programs from waste, fraud and abuse``.