Press Releases
02/01/2021
Connecticut Behavioral Health Clinician Group Pays $100K to Settle False Claims Allegations
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong and John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that Neil Quatrano, and his business, Behavioral Management, LLC, have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal and state governments and will pay more than $100,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the federal and state False Claims Acts.Behavioral Management is a private behavioral health practice located in North Haven, that provided after-school and school break programs for children with behavioral and mental health issues. Behavioral Management is enrolled as both a Behavioral Health Clinician Group and a Professional Counselor Group in the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program (“CMAP”), which includes the state’s Medicaid program. Quatrano is not a licensed behavioral health provider in Connecticut.
It is alleged that Quatrano and Behavioral Management submitted fraudulent claims to Medicaid under Current Procedural Terminology (“CPT”) code 90876 for participants of the after-school and school break program. CPT code 90876 requires “individual psychophysiological therapy incorporating biofeedback training by any modality (face-to-face with patient), with psychotherapy (e.g., insight oriented, behavior modifying or supported psychotherapy); 45 minutes.” Quatrano and Behavioral Management falsely represented that a licensed provider had rendered the services when, in fact, an unlicensed individual rendered the services. Quatrano and Behavioral Management also falsely represented that 45 minutes of one-on-one psychotherapy services were provided when in fact 20 minutes of group services were provided. Finally, Quatrano and Behavioral Management falsely represented that the services provided included biofeedback when, in fact, they did not.
To resolve the allegations under the federal and state False Claims Acts, Quatrano and Behavioral Management, LLC have agreed to pay $100,842.86 in order to reimburse the Medicaid program for conduct occurring from January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014.
Under the False Claims Act, the government can recover up to three times its actual damages, plus penalties of $11,665 to $23,331 for each false claim.
“Neil Quatrano and Behavioral Management allegedly submitted fraudulent Medicaid claims for therapy and services that were never provided. In conjunction with our federal and state partners, the Office of the Attorney General will take strong action against anyone who misuses our state’s Medicaid program to the detriment of both taxpayers and patients,” said Attorney General William Tong.
Attorney General Tong thanked the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General/Office of Investigations, the Office of the United States Attorney, the Connecticut Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the DSS Office of Quality Assurance for their coordination in this matter.
Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Attorney General’s Antitrust and Government Program Fraud Department at 860-808-5040 or by email at ag.fraud@ct.gov; the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at 860-258-5986 or by email at conndcj@ct.gov; or the Department of Social Services fraud reporting hotline at 1-800-842-2155, online at www.ct.gov/dss/reportingfraud, or by email to providerfraud.dss@ct.gov.
Assistant Attorneys General Joshua L. Jackson and Michael E. Cole, Legal Investigator Timothy Edwards, and Jeremy Pearlman, Chief of the Antitrust and Government Program Fraud Department, assisted the Attorney General with this matter.
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Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
Consumer Inquiries:
860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov