Capital-area Diagnostic And Treatment Center Admits To $350,000 Medicaid Fraud

Attorney General Spitzer today announced that a diagnostic and treatment center in Troy has admitted to stealing $350,000 from taxpayers by fraudulently billing for outpatient psychological counseling services provided to Medicaid patients.

Lawyers for Comprehensive Clinical Center, Inc. (CCC) appeared today in Albany County Court before Judge Thomas A. Breslin and pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree on behalf of the corporation. As part of its plea, CCC made restitution of $350,000 to the Medicaid program. The corporation was immediately sentenced to pay a fine of $150,000.

"This investigation and prosecution by my Medicaid Fraud Control Unit drives home our message that we have zero tolerance for those who rip off Sate taxpayers," said Attorney General Spitzer. "My office is committed to making sure that all monies fraudulently obtained are returned to the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program."

CCC is a diagnostic and treatment center providing a range of therapeutic services to individuals at various part-time clinics located in adult homes and outpatient facilities for the developmentally disabled and mentally retarded. In order to qualify for services, a recipient's primary physician must make a determination of medical necessity and order treatment.

From January 1997 to January 2001, CCC submitted numerous false reimbursement claims stating that psychological counseling services had been provided to patients referred to the center by their personal physicians. In fact, no referrals had been made and, as a result, CCC received $350,000 in Medicaid funds to which it was not entitled.

Spitzer thanked the State Department of Health, the State Office of Mental Hygiene, and the State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities for their assistance in the investigation.

Comprehensive Clinical Center, Inc.'s main office is located at 2200 Burdett Avenue in Troy.

Special Assistant Attorney General John P. Miller, of the Albany Regional Office of the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, prosecuted the case. All cases are handled under the direct supervision of Deputy Attorney General Jos? Maldonado.