AG Jeff Jackson settles with treatment center + Lawmakers push for new bills
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- AG Jeff Jackson announced a $584,143 settlement with Crossroads Treatment Center.
- Allegation says Crossroads denied physicians the option of lower-level urine tests.
- Half of the $584,143 settlement will go to Medicaid and half to public schools.
Good morning, and welcome to Under the Dome, your daily roundup of politics news. I’m legislative and lobbying reporter Esther Frances.
NC AG settles with substance treatment center
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson on Wednesday announced a $584,143 settlement with a Greensboro-based subtance use disorder treatment center.
Crossroads Treatment Center of Greensboro was alleged to have submitted false claims to Medicaid, according to Jackson’s office.
The settlement was in collaboration with U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina. Jackson, a Democrat, said half of the funds will go toward the state’s Medicaid program while the other will go toward North Carolina public schools.
Between 2019 and 2023, Crossroads is alleged to have submitted claims for urinary drug testing to Medicaid without allowing for physicians to choose a lower-level version of the test, “resulting in more complex testing than was medically necessary,” Jackson’s office said.
Per state and federal law, the government would be owed three times the amount of money falsely obtained.
Jackson said in a statement that the settlement was the “best-case scenario for addressing fraud and waste in the Medicaid program.”
“We’re going to protect every single ... taxpayer dollar to ensure it goes to taxpayer healthcare,” he said.
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