Officials to Meet on Billing Practices

Ventura County officials are set to meet with Department of Justice investigators today to discuss whether the county’s Behavioral Health Department has violated federal billing practices.

Health Care Agency Director Pierre Durand and his assistant, Mike Powers, are to meet with U. S. Atty. Wendy Weiss and other investigators at their office in Los Angeles, county Supervisor John Flynn said Wednesday.

Flynn said investigators have determined that the county has been overbilling the federal government for mental health services. He could not estimate how much money would have to be repaid.

“That’s the direction [investigators] are going in; there’s no reason to try to pretend otherwise,” Flynn said. “This is stronger than a hunch. It’s closer to a probability.”

The inquiry, launched in January, stems from concerns raised by county doctors that their names and provider numbers were being used on Medicare claims for services provided by social workers.

Doctors began complaining about improper billing practices around the time the county merged its Behavioral Health Department with the Public Social Services Agency in April 1998.

In many cases, a social worker, nurse or psychiatric technician would provide therapy or counseling to a client, but a doctor’s name would appear on Medicare claims in order for the county to receive federal reimbursements for the services, doctors said.