TAMPA, Fla.—The Department of Justice June 14 announced it has intervened in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging a Florida sleep clinic violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare and TRICARE for tests performed by uncertified technicians
In an intervenor’s complaint filed in Tampa in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the government named as defendants Bay Area Sleep Associates LLC, which operates as SomnoMedics LLC, and its owner, Edward Killmer Jr.
The defendants operate 10 sleep laboratories throughout central Florida, the complaint noted.
The qui tam case alleges the defendants violated the False Claims Act by hiring unlicensed technicians to perform sleep tests, knowing that Medicare reimbursement regulations required diagnostic testing services at independent diagnostic testing facilities such as SomnoMedics be performed by a technician licensed or certified by a state or national credentialing body, DOJ said in a statement.
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