Negril, a mental health and disability care company, and its owners agreed to a $1,817,910.60 civil settlement over allegations of improperly billing Virginia Medicaid for mental health services.
Federal officials alleged that Negril submitted claims for mental health skill-building services performed by a separate company that was not enrolled as a Medicaid provider, according to an Oct. 19 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.
From January 2021 through May 2022, Negril allegedly used its own National Provider Identification number to bill Medicaid for the services. The company performing the services lacked its own identification number and was not credentialed through the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
Under the arrangement, Negril kept 25% of the Medicaid reimbursements and passed the remaining 75% to the company providing the services, federal officials alleged.
The government filed a civil complaint June 12 alleging violations of the False Claims Act and Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act. The settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing, and no liability has been determined.
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