California medical providers and their medical director have agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle allegations they submitted claims to healthcare programs and commercial insurers for services that weren’t provided or supervised.
San Francisco-based Circle Medical Care of California, Circle Medical Technologies Inc., and their Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nicole Tsang, are paying the money to the United States and the state of California for violations of the federal False Claims Act and corresponding state statute, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Circle operates an online telehealth platform through which it offers mental health treatment and primary care medical services through contract providers. Circle submits claims for payment to federally funded health programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE, and to California insurers.
The United States and California alleged that Circle submitted claims for payment to these programs and received reimbursement between 2018 and 2025 despite knowingly identifying the name and NPI (National Provider Identifier) number of providers who did not actually provide or supervise the services, and failed properly to supervise nurse practitioners and physician assistants who rendered medical services.
Under the settlement agreement, Circle will pay $475,000 to the United States and $2.8 million to California.
The settlement resolves claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. Jason Vellen will receive $80,750 from the United States and $997,500 from California as part of the settlement.
Topics
California
Claims
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