A Stamford doctor who was tapped by the Elicker administration to provide free walk-up Covid testing during the early months of the pandemic has agreed to pay the state and federal governments more than $860,000 to settle allegations that he billed for blood tests that he didn’t perform and for p atients whom he inaccurately identified as uninsured. The settlement concerns Dr. Steven Murphy and his businesses Murphy Medical Associates LLC and Diagnostic and Medial Specialist of Greenwich LLC. It covers the time period between September 2019 through April 2022. The state attorney general and the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the settlement in separate email press releases Friday. Click here to read the settlement agreement in full, and click here and here to read Friday’s press releases. Murphy is the same doctor who partnered with the city between April and October 2020 to provide free walk-up Covid-19 tests in Day Street Park. In the intervening years, Murphy’s medical practice filed lawsuit after lawsuit against various insurers and health plans, seeking to collect millions of dollars in unpaid Covid-19 test reimbursements. Those defendants consistently responded by accusing Murphy of being a pandemic “profiteer” for sending insurers bills that were hundreds of dollars — and sometimes thousands of dollars — more expensive per test than the industry standard. While the settlement announced on Friday does not specifically mention Murphy’s New Haven operation, it touches on many of the fraud claims made over the years by insurers and patients alike. “Medical overbilling erodes public trust, wastes vital public resources, and is against the law,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is quoted as saying in one of Friday’s press releases. “My office stands ready with our federal and state partners to take action against anyone who abuses the system.” Murphy and his attorneys did not respond to a request for comment by the publication time of this article. The settlement document makes clear that Murphy and his companies deny the fraud allegations made by the state and federal governments. Instead, the various parties agreed to the settlement to “avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience, and expense of protracted litigation” of these matters. “The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most frightening and challenging times in our city’s and country’s history,” Mayor Justin Elicker told the Independent in an email statement. “To have a seemingly trusted medical professional exploit that fear, commit fraud and attempt to unduly profit from the pandemic is deplorable, and we are glad to see that Dr. Murphy is being held accountable for his actions.” $583,310.28 For Feds, $283,229.06 For State The document was signed by state Deputy Associate Attorney General Gregory O’Connell on Oct. 7, by Murphy and defense attorneys David Ring and Jody Erdfarb on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8, and by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle McConaghy and Richard Molotmakes on Oct. 13. It states that, in April 2021, the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) suspended payments to Murphy and his companies; as of Sept. 1 of this year, the amount “held in suspense” by DSS was $859,565.34. It also states that, in November 2022, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) suspended Medicare payments to Murphy and his companies; as of Aug. 27 of this year, the amount “held in suspense” was $7,047.48. The settlement references a series of bills passed by Congress in 2020 and 2021 that provided funds to healthcare providers for Covid-19 testing and treatment for uninsured individuals. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) was charged with overseeing the Covid-19 Uninsured Program. “The United States contends that Defendants had information in their files indicating that certain patients for which they made attestations and submitted claims for reimbursement to the Uninsured Program were, in fact, enrolled in government or private health insurance programs,” the settlement agreement states. The document continues, “Although information in their files indicated that these patients were insured, Defendants accessed their internal electronic medical records system and changed the patient’s insurance identifying information to ‘Covid19 HRSA Uninsured.'” The settlement states that Murphy and his companies submitted “false or fraudulent attestations and claims for payment” to HRSA for reimbursement under the Covid-19 Uninsured Program from March 3, 2021, to March 9, 2022. The settlement also refers to an in-house lab that Murphy and his companies had for performing blood tests on patients, including — but not exclusively for — those who had possible exposure to Covid-19. “On certain occasions, Defendants billed Medicare and Medicaid for specific blood tests that were part of their standard panel, but which were never actually performed, because Defendants did not have the reagents necessary to perform the specific blood tests that were billed,” the document states. “Defendants knew or should have known that certain blood tests for which they submitted claims and were paid by Medicare and Medicaid were not actually performed, because Defendants did not have the reagents necessary to run those blood tests and because the results for those blood tests did not appear in the medical record.” These “false or fraudulent claims for payment” related to blood tests occurred between Sept. 15, 2019 — that is, before the start of the pandemic — and April 28, 2022. The settlement states that Murphy and his companies deny these allegations made by the federal and state governments. “This Settlement Agreement is neither an admission of liability by Defendants nor a concession by the United States and the State of Connecticut that their claims are not well founded,” the document continues. “To avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience, and expense of protracted litigation of the above claims, and in consideration of the mutual promises and obligations of this Settlement Agreement,” the various parties agreed to the following: Murphy and his companies shall pay the U.S. and the State of Connecticut a total of $866,539.34 — with $583,310.28 going to the federal government and $283,229.06 going to the state. Murphy and his companies shall be excluded from Medicare, Medicaid, and all other federal healthcare programs for a period of three years. Murphy and his companies shall also be excluded from the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program (CMAP) for three years. If the feds or state decide criminally prosecute Murphy in regards to the allegations covered by this civil settlements, Murphy and his companies shall not assert a defense based on the Double Jeopardy Clause in the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, or on the Excessive Fines Clause in the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. The state attorney general’s press release states that Tong’s office began investigating Murphy’s billing practices in May 2020. Six years later, this settlement has been struck. The post Pandemic “Profiteer” Pays $860K appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less