Urgent Care operator pays $3M to resolve alleged violations of the false claims act

BOISE — Bloom Care LLC and its owners have paid $3 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to federal health care programs for medically unnecessary testing and for inflating the extent of services performed, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Idaho.

Bloom operated Urgent Care centers in Idaho and New Mexico throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United States alleged that Bloom knowingly used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse for billing for medically unnecessary streptococcus and influenza tests for asymptomatic patients. 

Additionally, the United States contends that Bloom submitted claims for high-level evaluation and management services for COVID-19 patients when Bloom knew the services should have been billed at a lower level of service that would have been reimbursed at a lower rate, the release said.

To justify these high reimbursement claims, the United States contends Bloom exaggerated the time spent with COVID-19 patients and/or the complexity of the evaluation required to care for these patients.

“The Department of Justice is committed to identifying waste, fraud and abuse in federal programs,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott. “I commend the federal and state agencies that investigated this case, as their important efforts protect taxpayer dollars.”

This matter was investigated jointly by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General. 

Additional assistance was provided by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Assistant United States Attorney Elliot Wertheim handled this case.