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| Jail medical providers face state probe |
| By Palm Beach Post |
| Published: 02/23/2004 |
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The Florida Attorney General's Office is investigating illegal Medicaid billings for prison and jail inmate treatment and is targeting two longtime medical contractors at jails in Palm Beach, St. Lucie and 18 other counties, according to their corporate parent. Based on "recent discussions" with the attorney general's office, America Service Group says it expects the state to pursue a claim against two of its subsidiaries -- Prison Health Services Inc., the Palm Beach County Jail's medical provider, and EMSA Correctional Services, which held the Palm Beach and St. Lucie contracts through most of the 1990s before being bought out by Prison Health Services in 1999. The claim, based on Medicaid billings from December 1998 to the present, could have a "material impact" on America Service Group's finances, the Tennessee-based conglomerate said in recent statements to stockholders and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company lists itself as the leading prison health-care provider in the United States, with projected revenues of $650 million in 2004, and says it will disclose more about the Medicaid situation after releasing its 2003 earnings report today. "Inadvertently, some claims went through to Medicaid for inmates," company general counsel Jean Byassee said. "That's not allowed. We have a strict policy against that." The federal government considers jail and prison inmates wards of the state and not eligible for most Medicare and Medicaid payments. JoAnn Carrin, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, confirmed the investigation, but could not discuss any details. Prison Health Services is in the midst of a $15.6 million, 20-month contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and has a 23-month, $2.2 million contract in St. Lucie County. It functions as a managed-care company, getting paid according to daily jail population and making a profit by holding down costs. All private inmate-care providers have encountered criticism and lawsuits alleging they cut off medications and denied treatment to increase profits. In Palm Beach County, for example, Prison Health Services is under investigation by the sheriff's office bureau of internal affairs as a result of an inmate's death last October. A report is expected to be released this week. |
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