Six Texas Dialysis Centers of SNG Agree to Pay About $2 Million: They Reported Zero Revenue After Closing or Selling, Drawing Excess Pandemic Relief
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced on October 28 that six dialysis centers majority-owned by Sankar Nephrology Group (SNG) have agreed to pay approximately $2 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations. The centers — SNG Bellaire Dialysis Center, SNG Hillcroft Dialysis Center, SNG Northwest Dialysis Center, SNG Pasadena Dialysis Center, SNG Sandcastle Dialysis Center, and SNG Texas City Dialysis, all in the Houston, Texas area — were accused of submitting false claims to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to receive Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments. Sankar Nephrology Group will provide a guaranty backing the settlement amount.
The PRF was created by the CARES Act, enacted March 29, 2020, to reimburse eligible health care providers for lost revenue or increased expenses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within HHS, distributed funds directly to providers based on their past Medicare billing, on condition that providers report the lost revenue and increased expenses the pandemic caused them.
As detailed in the settlement agreement, the centers admit that, by the time they reported their lost revenue and increased expenses to HRSA, each center had either ceased operating or sold its operations to another owner. In their reports, however, they stated that they had zero revenue during the reporting period — creating the false implication that their revenue had gone to zero because of the pandemic, rather than because of a pre-arranged sale or closure. That reporting led HRSA to award PRF funding beyond their entitlement, and the United States contends the centers submitted false claims for payment and false statements material to a false claim.
U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley and Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the HHS Office of Inspector General, announced the settlement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles B. Weinograd of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit handled the case.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Houston 的 Texas Medical Center 航拍，本案六家 SNG 透析中心位于 Houston 一带医疗区。照片：Carol M. Highsmith 摄，公共领域（美国国会图书馆藏），经 Wikimedia Commons。 / An aerial view of the Texas Medical Center in Houston, the medical district where the six SNG dialysis centers operated. Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, public domain (Library of Congress), via Wikimedia Commons.
