The United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico and the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) announce that MMM Holdings, LLC (MMM) has agreed to pay $15,228,340 to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it implemented a gift card incentive program in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. According to the settlement agreement, the United States asserted that MMM submitted or caused to be submitted claims for payment to the Medicare Program relating to a gift card incentive scheme implemented by MMM during the period of January 2018 to December 2022, which the United States alleged violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, and which resulted in violations of the False Claims Act. As a result of the incentive scheme, the United States alleged that MMM distributed gift cards to administrative assistants of providers to induce the referral, recommendation, or arrangement for enrollment of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries in an MMM Medicare Advantage plan. Those newly enrolled Medicare beneficiaries resulted in associated premium payments of $6,091,336. The negotiated settlement with MMM took into consideration the company’s cooperative efforts and implementation of internal controls.
