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Wells Emergency Medical Services has reached a nearly $340,000 settlement concerning accusations of Medicare fraud, avoiding a potentially arduous trial.

A whistleblower alleged that, over the course of 10 years, the ambulance service fraudulently reported nonemergency interfacility transfers as emergencies, resulting in thousands of dollars in upcharges to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

Wells EMS board President Brian Toomey and the board’s attorney, Robert Hayes, shared the details of the allegations and settlement at a brief special meeting of the Wells Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, the same day court documents in the case were unsealed.

The alleged fraudulent claims took place over the course of about 10 years, between January 2010 and September 2020. According to court documents, that alleged overbilling resulted in just under $268,000 in damages to the federal government.

The claims were brought forward by a former employee who accused the service of improperly upcoding about 150 transfers per year. 

The settlement releases Wells EMS from the liability for the alleged overbilling, and Hayes said that once the deal is finalized, the whistleblower’s lawsuit will be dismissed.

Hayes said the settlement is not an admission of guilt but a compromise to avoid what would have been a lengthy trial. He noted that the government could have recouped three times the alleged overbilling amount in damages in the case.

The total settlement of $339,972 to the U.S. government and the whistleblower includes damages and legal fees. Hayes and Toomey said $50,000 is being covered by insurance.

Toomey emphasized that no one on Wells EMS’ current board of directors was involved in any capacity because of turnover.

“This was the best course of action for WEMS,” Hayes said. “The current WEMS board has been momentous in getting this to a place where we can resolve it and instituting actions that ensure that it wasn’t ongoing and wouldn’t happen in the future.”