N.Y. hospitals named in Medicaid suit

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Seven New York hospitals re-admitted the same drug treatment patients over and over again in a $50 million Medicaid scam, officials allege.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and U.S. Eastern District Attorney Benton Campbell have filed civil charges against the hospitals, claiming they also ran unlicensed programs that admitted patients who weren't addicts and used beer to lure homeless people into medical beds in a scam to tap Medicaid funds, The New York Post reported Monday.

The newspaper said authorities allege, among other charges, that Downtown Hospital in Manhattan admitted 17 patients six or more times for the same addiction. All seven hospitals had entered into business agreements with a Missouri healthcare and marketing firm, Special Care Hospital Management Co., officials said.

"This is an outrageous scam that siphoned millions of dollars from New York taxpayers and undermined the purpose of the Medicaid program," Cuomo told The Post.

The hospitals allegedly involved include three in New York City: Our Lady of Mercy in The Bronx, Downtown Hospital and the now-closed Queens' Parkway Hospital, the Post said. Also accused are Long Beach Hospital, St. Joseph's Medical Center in Yonkers, N.Y., Columbia Memorial in Hudson, N.Y., and Benedictine in Kingston, N.Y.