Athens Doctor to Pay $1.29 Million to Settle Medicare Fraud Allegations
Health Wealth Safe, Inc., and Dr. Subodh Agrawal have paid $1.29 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare for remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) services that did not meet program requirements.
“Knowingly billing Medicare for services that do not meet Medicare’s requirements is a fraud against taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Our office will continue to enforce the False Claims Act to recover government payments that result from such misconduct.”
The U.S. government alleged that, under Dr. Agrawal’s direction, Health Wealth billed Medicare for RPM services between September 2019 and January 2021, despite failing to provide patients with devices that automatically reported readings without human intervention—a key requirement for Medicare coverage. RPM involves using technology to remotely monitor a patient’s physiological metrics like blood pressure or blood sugar.
“Healthcare professionals have a sworn duty to prioritize patient health and to ensure all services billed to the federal government are fully compliant with program requirements,” said Kelly Blackmon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).
The investigation originated from a whistleblower lawsuit, known as a qui tam suit, filed by former employees of Health Wealth Safe, Inc. Under the False Claims Act, whistleblowers who bring fraud to the government’s attention can share in any recovery. The relator in this case will receive $238,650 from the settlement, plus attorney’s fees.
The settlement resolves the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, United States ex rel. Chavous v. Health Wealth Safe, Inc., No. 1:22-cv-02553. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia and HHS-OIG investigated the case, which was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony DeCinque.
The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
