Provider to repay $2M-plus for Medicaid charges

A southeastern North Carolina behavioral health care provider will pay more than $2.5 million to settle claims of false Medicaid billings brought by the state and federal Departments of Justice.

Southeastern Behavioral Healthcare Services LLC and its owners, Bertha Hutchinson and Virgil Hutchinson, allegedly submitted improper claims to the state’s Medicaid program between March 2016 and July 2020, a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina says. The invoices were for services that were not provided, were not necessary or were for patients who were incarcerated or dead and where there was a lack of medical records supporting the services.

Under state and federal versions of the False Claims Act, the government can recover triple the money falsely obtained and civil penalties for each false claim.

“The civil claims resolved by settlement here are allegations only, and that there has been no judicial determination or admission of liability,” the release says.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the N.C. Attorney General’s Office.

Southeastern Behavioral has offices in Lumberton and Maxton.