United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee announced that Affinity Acupuncture, LLC has agreed to pay the United States $250,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The United States contends that Affinity violated the FCA by submitting false claims to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) for non-reimbursable acupuncture for which the claims were not authorized, not allowed as coded, or lacked supporting documentation. The settlement covers conduct for the period from January 2015 through December 2020, during which the VA reimbursed Affinity for claims arising from its false statements. This investigation follows an internal audit by the VA’s Office of Inspector General and its published report issued in December 2021 that found that the VA made an estimated $137 million in improper payments for acupuncture nationwide during Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019.
