WHEELING, W.Va. — The federal prosecutor for northern West Virginia said a $50 million settlement reached with Wheeling Hospital on a civil case connected to the defrauding of Medicare was not meant to be overly punitive.
“In this case, it is not my goal and it certainly wasn’t the department’s (Department of Justice) goal to put this hospital out of business. That’s certainly not our goal,” U.S. Attorney Bill Powell said during a Thursday appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.”
The settlement between the hospital and DOJ was announced this week. Powell said the $50 million was arrived at through an ‘ability to pay’ calculation.
“The claims (for reimbursement from Medicare) were significantly in excess of $50 million,” Powell said. “The hospital had the ability to pay this in one form or another and could not pay a significantly larger sum without significant injury to the hospital and the health care community in the northern panhandle.”
.@USAttyPowell, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of WV, talks with @HoppyKercheval about the giant financial settlement involving Wheeling Hospital’s kickback scheme. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/LsME52dZCl
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) September 10, 2020
Wheeling Hospital is currently the only hospital in Wheeling after Ohio Valley Medical Center closed last year. Powell said illegal agreements like the one at Wheeling Hospital can hurt other providers.
“Part of the reason for these laws is to try to help create an even playing field and if the laws aren’t followed then people have distinct economic advantages over other players and that’s not the system we need or can have,” Powell said.
Powell said the hospital, under its past management, had improper compensation relationships with approximately three dozen physicians who would refer their patients to the hospital. The kickback went on for 13 years in some cases. Federal investigators fount out about the scheme from former Wheeling Hospital Executive Vice President Louis Longo. He will receive $10 million of the settlement under federal whistleblower provisions. Powell said Longo’s information was key in the investigation.
“Obviously there is a windfall to the whistleblower but quite frankly, in many cases, we don’t get this information unless there’s a whistleblower,” Powell said.
Powell would not comment Thursday on whether there’s an ongoing criminal investigation.