Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson announced today that the State of Nebraska and the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General have entered into a settlement with Mary Lanning Healthcare, doing business as Mary Lanning Hospital regarding Mary Lanning’s submission of false claims to the Nebraska Medicaid program and to Medicare.

The false claims were for services provided by one of Mary Lanning’s contract employees, Daniel Mazour, MD, who provided services to Mary Lanning’s patients at its Blue Hill Clinic.  Mary Lanning billed Medicaid and Medicare for Mazour’s services.  The hospital later discovered that Mazour billed for medically unnecessary services.  The false claims were made from January 2010 until April 2016.  After making the discovery, Mary Lanning self-disclosed the false claims to Medicaid and Medicare, which were then settled under the federal government’s Civil Monetary Penalty Law and the Nebraska False Medicaid Claims Act.

Mary Lanning Healthcare will pay the state and federal governments $677,239.56, which includes restitution of $451,493.07 and additional damages of $225, 746.49.  The state will receive $161,990.62 under the settlement.

The matter was investigated by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Patient Abuse Unit and the Office of Inspector General for the US Department of Health and Human Services.  The Office of Counsel for the Inspector General handled the matter for the federal government.  Nebraska Assistant Attorney General Vicki Adams handled the matter for the state.