NEWS

Mousetrap Pediatrics to pay fine, penalty

Dan D'Ambrosio
Free Press Staff Writer
Franklin County

The former Mousetrap Pediatrics PC has agreed to pay $66,553 to settle potential claims for improperly billing Medicaid, the state attorney general's office said.

The settlement resolves an investigation into Mousetrap's Medicaid claims related to after-hours office visits. The investigation by the attorney general's office revealed that from Jan. 28, 2013, through Dec. 7, 2015, Mousetrap submitted claims to Medicaid using an improper billing code for services provided during regularly scheduled extended office hours.

Mousetrap received $51,553 more from the Vermont Medicaid program than it would have been entitled to had the claims been properly submitted, according to the attorney general's office. The improper use of the billing code was caused by a change in Mousetrap's business practices regarding extended office hours, and did not reflect any fraudulent intent, the attorney general's office said.

Mousetrap will repay the Medicaid Program the $51,553 it improperly received and a $15,000 civil penalty.

Mousetrap closed in January after 25 years of taking care of children in Franklin County. As the Burlington Free Press reported last December, Franklin County lost four pediatricians out of 11 total in the county, including two at Mousetrap.

Franklin County faces pediatric care crisis

In January, Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans addressed what was becoming a crisis of pediatric care in Franklin County by creating Northwestern Pediatrics and hiring the five remaining pediatricians from Mousetrap Pediatrics.

This story appeared online on Nov. 22, 2016. Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanDambrosioVT.

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