California medical group to pay $26M settlement after underreporting income

Clinica Sierra Vista agreed to pay nearly $26 million to settle allegations it underreported income, according to a press release from the office of Rob Bonta, attorney general of California.

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Bakersfield, Calif.-based Clinica Sierra Vista voluntarily reported the violations after new management identified them during an internal investigation, according to the Feb. 2 press release. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and the Department of Justice’s Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse conducted its own investigation and found former executives of the practice knowingly submitted false information to receive higher payments from Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program.

The state of California will receive $15.59 million of the settlement and the federal government will get $10.39 million, according to the report.

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