Ralph Massullo and the dark side of politics
Dr. Ralph Massullo is our current state representative in the Florida State House of Representatives for District 34. He's also running for this year's Republican nomination for Florida State Senate District 10. But did you know his medical practice recently paid millions of dollars in fines for Medicare fraud?
In December 2020, Massullo and his partner Dr. William Welton III of Suncoast Dermatology and Skin Surgery Center agreed to pay the federal government a $2.3 million fine for allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law by submitting false claims associated with lesions.
As reported on its website, the U.S. Office of Inspector General alleged that Suncoast's shareholder employee falsified patient records and examination findings, including falsifying the size and type of excised lesions (e.g., benign or malignant) and misclassifying lesions in size and type, leading to unnecessary follow-up procedures on the lesions in which sizes were grossly overstated, and upcoded procedures. Suncoast then submitted claims for payment to federal health care programs based on these falsified patient records and examination findings.
It should be noted that Suncoast also received $469,000 in CARES Act (COVID) relief money – the fourth largest payout in Citrus County.
The fine against Massullo's medical practice was announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Dec. 16, 2020. My question is why didn't the Citrus County Chronicle print this news in their daily newspaper? It appears they will never print it, and I personally know they have known about it for some time. Could it be the GOOD OLD BOY SYSTEM is full steam ahead in Citrus County?
Rep. Massullo is welcome to reach out to give an accounting of the circumstances around this fine against his practice. The voters have the right to demand and get answers.
Take notice: All elected officials and candidates running for office are being watched and vetted for integrity and will be held accountable at the ballot box.
Billy Cayce is an active conservative citizen of Citrus County.
What were they thinking???
ReplyDeleteBilly, I believe you have good intentions in your efforts to "vet" candidates for office, but you should take care to have all the facts before making accusations. Otherwise, your efforts will be construed as an attempt to unfairly disparage someone you might not like, for whatever reason.
ReplyDeleteThat refund you referred to above was an issue with an ex employee/shareholder whom I discovered was upcoding. I ordered an internal audit, determined the overpayment, dispatched the individual, contacted the OIG and paid back the government. Furthermore, I would do it again if I catch anyone in our practice not operating in an ethical manner. FYI, the 3 year audit was of the entire practice and neither myself nor my partner Dr. Welton had one bad claim, not one. That’s the story and anyone requesting the full report from the freedom of information act will see the same. We have never been investigated, nor fined. That was a “self disclosure” that we instituted that was even part of the report that your posted. If anything, it shows our ethics and concern for the both the rule of law and our patients' care. We will continue serving our patients, who put their trust in us, in an ethical and cost effective manner. That's sir is the truth from the facts.
Ralph can you elaborate more on the 469,000 dollars of the CARES act money that Suncoast Dermatology received?
DeleteRalph isn't the boss responsible for the actions of his employees? You can delegate your tasks but not your responsibility. It's called the doctrine of respondiat superior. The settlement was for 2.3 million. How much was the original amount detected?
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DeleteRalph for a couple of years haven't you been in the top 1 percent of Medicare billers in the United States? Isn't that supposed to automatically trigger an audit by the Centers fir Medicare and Medicaid Services? Could it be that did not occur because you are endorsed by AMPAC, the lobbying arm of the American Medical Association?
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