Feds investigating possibility that Humana overbilled taxpayers for Medicare Advantage; firm says it reported information

Louisville-based "Humana Inc. faces multiple federal investigations into allegations that it overbilled the government for treating elderly patients enrolled in its Medicare Advantage plans, court records reveal." So reports Fred Schulte of the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity, a non-profit, inevstigative news agency.

"The status of the investigations is not clear, but they apparently involve several branches of the Justice Department," Schulte reports, adding that federal prosecutors said in a document filed in March that they expect at least one of the investigations will be completed ?in the next few months.?

Federal prosecutors in West Palm Beach have "opened a criminal case involving overbilling allegations that the government says is similar to the Miami investigation," Schulte writes. "Meanwhile, the criminal division of the Justice Department in Washington has reviewed fraud allegations against the company, according to court records. Humana, which insures more than 2 million people through the Medicare Advantage plans, is also the target of two Florida whistleblower civil lawsuits that allege similar overcharges."

Humana spokesman Tom Noland told Schulte that the company has made ?several public disclosures about these matters over a long period of time? and ?self-reported? them several years ago, but ?Humana to our knowledge is not the subject of any criminal investigation.? (Read more)

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