Florida ambulance company agrees to pay $900K to settle false claims allegations

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The owners of a Florida ambulance company have agreed to pay $900,000 to settle false claims allegations, the Department of Justice Middle District of Florida announced Tuesday.

The DOJ said that Courtesy Transport Services and its owners, Melanie Burger and Dr. John Milanick, agreed to the settlement to resolve allegations that they defrauded Medicare and Medicaid by billing for ambulance transportation services that were not medically necessary or not provided.

According to the settlement agreements, from June 1, 2013, to June 30, 2019, Courtesy Transport Services submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid for basic life support, non-emergency ambulance transport services.

Attorneys said the claims were not reimbursable “because the services were not medically reasonable and necessary, the patients did not require transportation by ambulance, or the services were not actually provided to patients.”

“False and fraudulent claims for ambulance services harm both the integrity of important federal healthcare programs as well as the seniors who rely on them,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. “Our office is committed to recovering taxpayers’ money from fraud and abuse of these programs and will hold those who submit false claims accountable.” 

The DOJ said the settlements resolve a lawsuit filed by a former Courtesy employee under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.

“The claims resolved by the settlements are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability,” the DOJ said in a news release.