Connecticut Methadone Clinic Settles Urine Drug Test False Billing Charges for $354.3K

Case: A methadone clinic settled claims of overbilling the Connecticut Medicaid Program for urine drug tests for $354,367. Under state rules, methadone clinics receive a bundled weekly per patient rate that includes on-site drug abuse testing and monitoring. The case began when state auditors discovered that both the clinic and an outside independent lab billed Medicaid for testing performed by the latter in violation of the bundling rules, forcing the state to pay twice for the same test. Significance: Apparently, this wasn’t the clinic’s first violation of the bundling rules. In 2016, the state issued an Audit Report cautioning the clinic about improperly referring urine drug tests to an outside lab and warning of financial disallowances in future audits if it continued. And it did continue.