Freeport doc settles with feds in bogus billing case
A doctor with offices in Freeport and Alexandria, Va. has agreed to a $321,443 settlement after facing charges of falsely billing two federal health care programs.
An announcement Monday from U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty II states that Peter M. File, D.O., agreed to a settlement over charges that he wrongly billed Medicare, which provides insurance primarily to disabled and elderly people, and to Tricare, which provides health benefits to military personnel and their families.
According to File's attorneys, Janet Mills and John Doyle of Preti Flaherty, File admitted no liability in the settlement and the doctor maintains that "his treatments were both appropriate and medically necessary."
File's lawyers said that the issues in the case did not relate to patient complaints but federal regulations regarding coding and documentation.
File was served with a federal complaint on Sept. 28 over the alleged false billing between October 2005 and June 2011, which the complaint estimated to total $315,943.
The investigation was led by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 3 p.m. with comments from File's attorneys.
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