Crain’s Chicago Business is reporting that Illinois Planned Parenthood’s medical director, abortionist Caroline Hoke, is being investigated for overbilling to Medicaid.
Crain’s found that of 30,000 physicians, Hoke received the second-highest reimbursement from Medicaid in 2009, over $3 million, but her reimbursements plunged to zero in 2011. Per Crain’s:
The state Department of Healthcare and Family Services has withheld payments to Dr. Hoke until “billing issues” are resolved, a DHFS spokesman confirms….
Planned Parenthood of Illinois CEO Carole Brite denies any wrongdoing, calling the inquiry a “routine review.” She says the organization will have to repay the state, but she declines to say how much….
The probe raises questions about an important source of funding for the organization, which received about half of its $25 million revenue from Medicaid in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, the most recent data available.
Planned Parenthood’s explanation, again per Crain’s:
After the merger, Dr. Hoke’s reimbursements rose because DHFS instructed the organization to bill services at all locations under her name, Ms. Brite says. But the agency changed its position, effective February 2009, advising the organization to bill providers separately, she says. The inspector general’s examination began in April 2010, she adds.
“There’s no fraud, no wrongdoing,” Ms. Brite says. “We came to an agreement long ago – we’re just waiting for the final paperwork.”
As Dr. Hoke’s billings have faded, payments have grown to the other providers who use Planned Parenthood’s Chicago headquarters address. In fiscal 2009, those 52 providers were paid $2.8 million, records show. By 2011, the number of providers rose to 62 while payments shot up to $7 million.…
Medicaid officials typically suspend payments only when additional payments would be improper, says Linda Gombac, an auditor at Lafayette, Ind.-based BlickenStaff LLC, a health care compliance consulting firm.
“Especially if they end up taking back some money,” she says.
Exactly. If PP did nothing wrong, why does it have to repay the state?
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LifeNews.com Note: Jill Stanek fought to stop “live birth abortions” after witnessing one as an RN at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois. That led to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act legislation, signed by President Bush, that would ensure that proper medical care be given to unborn children who survive botched abortion attempts.
