FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE								  CIV
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1994	(202) 616-2765
	TDD (202) 514-1888

	
	MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER PAYS U.S. $90,000 TO SETTLE DISPUTE

	WASHINGTON, D.C. --	A Louisville, Kentucky, home health care
company will pay the United States $90,000 for participating in a scheme to
increase the volume of Medicare claims so it could boost reimbursements to
itself, the Department of Justice said today.
	Assistant Attorney General Frank Hunger of the Civil Division said the
settlement with Respro Home Care, which provides medical equipment such as
oxygen supplies to patients referred to home care, stemmed from the firm's
1987 contract with Special Healthcare Services and "investment" partnerships
Special Healthcare offered Louisville doctors.     
	Under the contract, Respro forwarded Medicare reimbursements generated
by the partnerships to Special Healthcare, which returned 85 percent of the
reimbursements to Respro, then distributed the remainder to the physician
partnership that generated the referral after deducting a portion for itself.
	The partnerships derived their income from home health care referrals,
including Medicare, according to an investigation by the Office of the
Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.   Thus, the
Inspector General said, the arrangement's purpose was to increase the volume
of referrals, which, in turn, increased reimbursements for the partnerships
and Respro.   	
	Special Healthcare and the physician partnerships were owned and/or
controlled by National Industries, doing business as CareTenders.
	Today's agreement settles claims the Department could have filed
against Respro under the False Claims Act.	
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