A North Carolina businessman and his durable medical equipment company are accused of overbilling the state’s Medicaid program $1.85 million for specialized nutritional formulas while allegedly providing common nutritional shakes like Ensure, the federal government said in a lawsuit.
Alleged Medicaid Overbilling Scheme
Benson Ejindu of Union County, North Carolina, allegedly submitted fraudulent Medicaid reimbursement claims from May 2017 to August 2019 through two companies, Joy Medical Supply and AsaAsa Medical Supply and Home Oxygen. According to the federal government’s complaint, Ejindu falsely billed Medicaid for high-cost nutritional formulas used to treat inherited metabolic disorders but instead provided patients with standard nutritional shakes such as Ensure, PediaSure, Boost, and Glucerna.
Ejindu allegedly used incorrect reimbursement codes to inflate payouts, claiming Medicaid reimbursements for formulas like Cyclinex and Glutarex, which are medically necessary for rare conditions.