Eye Doctor Group Pays $6.65 Million to Settle Overbilling Claims

A Southern California ophthalmology group’s former CEO and several of its doctors paid $6.65 million to settle allegations involving Medicare overbilling, prosecutors announced Oct. 4.

Retina Institute of California Medical Group and the other defendants paid the U.S. $6,353,410 and California $296,590 earlier this month, resolving allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid/Medi-Cal for more than a decade. The settlement stems from a False Claims Act lawsuit brought by two former employees for the eye group.

The physician group was accused of sending fraudulent bills for unnecessary eye exams, and improperly waiving Medicare co-payments “without proper documentation ...