Tobon v. Bane

192 A.D.2d 851, 596 N.Y.S.2d 495, 1993 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3738
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedApril 15, 1993
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 192 A.D.2d 851 (Tobon v. Bane) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tobon v. Bane, 192 A.D.2d 851, 596 N.Y.S.2d 495, 1993 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3738 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

Levine, J.

Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this Court by order of the Supreme Court, entered in Albany County) to review a determination of respondent which excluded petitioner from participation in the Medicaid program for five years and required restitution for overpayments.

Petitioner, a physician in private practice licensed in this State, was enrolled as a Medicaid provider and applied for reenrollment in 1988 (see, 18 NYCRR 504.10). As part of the reenrollment process, petitioner submitted 10 patients’ files to respondent. After reviewing the files, respondent terminated petitioner’s status in the Medicaid program without cause in November 1988 (18 NYCRR 504.7 [a]). Petitioner unsuccessfully challenged that termination (Matter of Tobon v New York State Dept. of Social Servs., 142 Misc 2d 310). Based on review of petitioner’s 10 files, respondent referred them to the Office of Professional Medical Conduct in the Department of [852]*852Health (hereinafter OPMC) for investigation of possible professional misconduct.

Because petitioner was terminated from the Medicaid program without cause and therefore without any agency determination of "unacceptable practices”, petitioner retained the right to order prescriptions and laboratory tests for Medicaid patients subject to Medicaid reimbursement (18 NYCRR 504.7 [a] ; 515.2, 515.5 [b]). In February 1990, respondent began an audit for the period June 1988 to July 1989 of petitioner’s Medicaid patient records, and subsequently requested review of a randomly selected sample of 25 Medicaid patient files for which petitioner had ordered services, which third-party services were paid for by the Medicaid program during the audit period. On advice of counsel, petitioner refused to provide the requested records because respondent declined to provide assurance that the requested files would not be turned over to OPMC.

Respondent issued a "notice of proposed agency action” in February 1990 advising petitioner that a determination had been made, based on his refusal to turn over the requested files — an "unacceptable practice”, to exclude him from the Medicaid program for two years; to disallow, and seek restitution for, all services he ordered during the audit period; and that petitioner had 30 days to respond. The parties dispute whether petitioner timely responded. Respondent issued a "notice of agency action” accompanied with a final audit report in September 1990, notifying petitioner that he was excluded from the Medicaid program for five years and demanding full restitution (i.e., $85,737 plus interest for the 6,249 services ordered by petitioner during the audit period, all of which were disallowed), based on the finding that petitioner had engaged in unacceptable practices (18 NYCRR 515.2) by failing to maintain and furnish upon request medical records for the required six years (see, 18 NYCRR 504.3, 517.3 [b] ; 540.7 [a] [8]), failing to maintain records and comply with other requirements (see, 18 NYCRR 515.2 [b] [6]), and failing to respond to the notice of proposed agency action. Petitioner’s right to order or prescribe Medicaid services was terminated for the duration of the exclusion period (see, 18 NYCRR 515.5 M).

At petitioner’s request an administrative hearing was held in January 1991, following which the Administrative Law Judge (hereinafter ALJ) (1) determined that petitioner’s refusal to furnish the 25 charts was not justified and was in violation of several regulations (see, 18 NYCRR 504.3 [a], [g]; [853]*853517.3 [b]; 518.3 [b]; 540.7 [a] [8]) and therefore constituted unacceptable practices and unacceptable recordkeeping (see, 18 NYCRR 515.2 [a] [1]; [b] [6]), and (2) found meritless petitioner’s contention that respondent was without jurisdiction to impose sanctions or obtain restitution because he was no longer an enrolled provider at the time of the audit. Accordingly, the ALJ sustained the sanction of five years’ exclusion and restitution imposed by respondent against petitioner. Petitioner commenced this CPLR article 78 proceeding to annul the determination, which was transferred to this Court.

As an initial matter, petitioner contends that because the audit period encompassed eight months in which he was not an enrolled participating provider, respondent had no jurisdiction to audit his medical records, sanction him or seek restitution for Medicaid services provided or ordered subsequent to his termination without cause in November 1988. However, it does not appear from the record that petitioner ever raised this jurisdictional issue with respondent prior to the administrative hearing as required under the regulations (see, 18 NYCRR 519.18 [a]). In any event, petitioner’s contention is incorrect because respondent’s regulations clearly permit imposition of sanctions, including exclusion and restitution, against any "person [who] has engaged in an unacceptable practice” (18 NYCRR 515.3 [a] [emphasis supplied]; see, 18 NYCRR 518.3 [b]; 515.1 [a] [1]; 515.2 [a]), and the term "person” includes "natural persons” and is not limited to enrolled providers (18 NYCRR 504.1 [d] [17]). As the ALJ aptly noted, "unacceptable practices are committed by persons, not providers” and ”[i]t is committing unacceptable practices or causing or receiving overpayments that gives rise to the Department’s authority to sanction, not provider enrollment status”.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
192 A.D.2d 851, 596 N.Y.S.2d 495, 1993 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3738, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tobon-v-bane-nyappdiv-1993.