Another Central Coast medical provider to pay Medi-Cal fraud settlement

August 31, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

A California health care district that operates multiple health care providers on the Central Coast has agreed to pay $5 million to settle allegations that they broke federal and California laws by submitting false claims to Medi-Cal amid an expansion of the program under Obamacare.

In a settlement reached earlier this month and announced on Thursday, Lompoc Valley Medical Center (LVMC), a California Health Care District that operates multiple health care providers, including a hospital and several clinics, agreed to pay $5 million to the federal government, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. The settlement resolves allegations that LVMC knowingly caused the submission of false claims to Medi-Cal.

With this and several prior settlements, the United States now has recovered $95.5 million from medical providers in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

In June, CenCal Health, Cottage Health System, Sansum Clinic and Community Health Centers of the Central Coast agreed to pay a combined total of $68 million to settle allegations that they broke federal and California laws by submitting false claims to Medi-Cal amid an expansion of the program under Obamacare.

Additionally, prosecutors reached settlements with Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in SLO and Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, which are subsidiaries of Tenet Healthcare Corporation. Those settlements related to payments they received from CenCal under the adult expansion program.