Dr. Josef Schenker and two urgent care facilities owned by him, Josef Schenker, M.D., P.C., and Care Partners Medical Management, LLC, have agreed to pay $564,217.70 to resolve allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare for services not provided in administering COVID-19 vaccines and tests. This resolution follows the Department’s recent announcement of a nationwide coordinated law enforcement action to combat healthcare- related Covid-19 fraud. When healthcare providers bill Medicare for COVID-19 tests and vaccines, they use certain Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes that specify the services that have been provided. In doing so, they signify that the services were performed as described and properly billed in accordance with industry standards. Applicable industry standards preclude physicians from billing for mid-level or high-level evaluation and management office visits when a Medicare beneficiary actually receives only a COVID-19 vaccine or test. An investigation revealed that, from July 2020 to December 2021, Dr. Schenker routinely used CPT codes which falsely indicated to Medicare that he had conducted detailed examinations of the patients during mid-level and high-level evaluation and management office visits when, in fact, he had provided only a COVID-19 vaccine or test.
