Ambulance operator Rural/Metro Corp., which is poised to emerge from chapter 11 protection in the coming weeks, has agreed to pay $2.8 million to the federal government to settle civil allegations of Medicare fraud, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. John S. Leonardo, the U.S. Attorney for Arizona, said yesterday that his office has agreed to a deal with Rural/Metro to settle allegations that the company violated the federal False Claims Act by submitting false bills to Medicare between 2007 and 2011. The settlement resolves allegations that various ambulance companies owned by Rural/Metro billed Medicare for transporting patients from one hospital to another on an emergency basis when, in fact, the calls were not emergencies.
