More than half a dozen private medical labs, including several based in California, have been accused of fraud in a lawsuit that could cost the labs millions of dollars in damages. According to Attorney General Jerry Brown, who held a news conference in March to discuss the suit, the labs in question “have siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars from programs intended for the most vulnerable California families.” The laboratories are said to have overcharged the Medi-Cal program, which provides health care for underprivileged and needy individuals, for medical tests. In one instance, a lab was said to have overcharged the state by more than 600 percent.
This news story, which can be read in its entirety in the Burbank Leader, illustrates the dark side of medical billing. Preventing fraud and preserving the integrity of the industry is a top priority for the majority of billing and coding professionals.
