United States Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. announced that Southeastern Behavioral Healthcare Services, LLC, a behavioral health business in Lumberton and Maxton, and its owners Bertha Hutchinson and Virgil Hutchinson, have agreed to pay $2,505,000.00 to settle civil allegations that they falsely billed North Carolina Medicaid for services that were not rendered. Southeastern has also agreed to enter an Integrity Agreement with the Office of Inspector General – United States Department of Health and Human Services as part of the settlement. Specifically, the United States and the State of North Carolina allege that Southeastern and the Hutchinsons improperly submitted claims to North Carolina Medicaid for services that were not in fact rendered, evidenced by recipient interviews establishing that services were not necessary at all, were systematically not rendered as billed, that services were billed for patients who were incarcerated or deceased on the billed date of services, and by a pervasive lack of medical records supporting either the provision of or necessity for the billed services, during the period from March 1, 2016, through July 14, 2020. The Governments allege that Southeastern’s and the Hutchinsons’ conduct violated the Federal and North Carolina False Claims Acts.
