ADVERTISEMENT

Former Dem Congressman to Lobby on Medicare for Hospital Accused of Medicare Fraud

Hospital paid over $3 million to settle allegations it inflated Medicare charges

Former Rep. Tim Bishop (D., N.Y.) / AP
July 15, 2016

A former Democratic congressman has registered to lobby for Medicare payments on behalf of a hospital that paid $3 million to settle Medicare fraud allegations.

Tim Bishop, a former representative from New York, filed a lobbyist registration form on June 29 to represent the Long Island-based Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in its endeavor to secure Medicare payments.

In 2010, the hospital agreed to pay $2.9 million plus interest to settle accusations that the hospital had defrauded Medicare. The hospital allegedly inflated charges to Medicare patients to secure greater reimbursement.

"Conduct like that alleged here drives up the costs of health care for all of us," said Tony West, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, at the time of the settlement. "The resolution announced today is the most recent in a series of settlements that illustrates the Justice Department's continued commitment to protecting the Medicare Trust Fund from hospitals that knowingly charge more than the law allows."

Bishop, who served in Congress from 2003 to 2015, helped secure a $150,000 earmark to the hospital for "facilities and equipment" in 2010, the same year it settled its fraud allegations. The hospital is one of the largest employers in the district he formerly represented, Legistorm reports.

Bishop joined D.C.-based lobbying firm Envision in late February.