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West Virginia regulators consider proposed natural gas plant
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — At a recent evidentiary hearing, West Virginia regulators signaled possible approval of a request from utilities Mon Power and Potomac Edison to build a new natural gas plant, along with three solar energy projects. The proposals are planned for Monongalia County.
Critics said an associated rate hike would cost households around $2.5 billion and the move is a push to accommodate energy demands from a prospective data center.
Dani Parent, executive director of the group West Virginia Citizen Action, said residential bills are projected to increase by several hundred dollars before the plant begins operating.
“This is going to begin showing up on people’s monthly energy bills, and based on our estimates, will do so for at least five years before anything is even fully built,” Parent pointed out.
According to the Public Service Commission, the companies seek an initial surcharge to pay for the projects, which would result in an average increase in customer bills of $1.18 a month. The utilities’ parent company, First Energy, said the plant is needed to keep power reliable and affordable for customers.
Parent noted community advocates have been speculating the new gas plant is tied to a single, uncommitted prospective data center, adding the power generation from a new plant is not needed to serve existing customers.
“Whatever it is for, it is for a large energy user and will definitely fall back on rate payers,” Parent contended.
According to the company, if the Public Service Commission of West Virginia approves the plant, site work would begin as early as 2027, with the plant coming online in late 2031.
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ARC settles whistleblower lawsuit alleging fraud for $16.2 million
ASHLAND, Ky. – Addiction Recovery Care, LLC (“ARC”), and its affiliates Pioneer Health Group, LLC and Science Hill Family Care, LLC, have agreed to a civil judgment of $16,205,774.05 in favor of the United States to resolve allegations that they defrauded the Kentucky Medicaid program. ARC, headquartered in Louisa, Kentucky, operates residential and outpatient drug rehabilitation facilities throughout the state. Along with its affiliates, ARC offers behavioral healthcare and medical healthcare services to patients at their rehabilitation facilities.
The judgment, announced today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Kentucky Attorney General, is part of a civil settlement resolving allegations that ARC and its affiliates violated the False Claims Act, a federal statute that prohibits the submission of false claims for payment to Government programs, including the Medicaid program.
In April 2023, current and former employees of ARC filed a qui tam complaint alleging that ARC defrauded the Kentucky Medicaid program by submitting fraudulent claims for payment for behavioral health services provided in their drug rehabilitation programs. Under the qui tamprovisions of the False Claims Act, a citizen can file a civil action on behalf of the United States to bring allegations of fraud to the Government’s attention. The United States thereafter opened a civil investigation into whether ARC violated the False Claims Act. During the Government’s investigation, ARC self-disclosed to the Government that it should not have billed for some of its services, including services identified by the whistleblowers in the qui tam complaint.
According to the settlement agreement, the Government alleged that ARC falsely represented the qualifications of some of their clinicians on claims to Kentucky Medicaid in order to receive higher reimbursements. From January 2018 to March 2024, some of ARC’s behavioral health services, such as psychotherapy, psychiatric evaluations, and mental health assessments, allegedly were provided by lower-level healthcare workers but billed as if ARC’s employees had higher-level licenses. Similarly, from July 2019 to mid-June 2021, the Government alleged that ARC falsely represented that it provided individual group therapy sessions, which Kentucky paid at a higher rate, when ARC in fact provided less expensive group therapy sessions. These alleged overstatements of provider qualifications and individualized care, which are commonly referred to as “upcoding,” are not allowed by federal health insurance programs and caused ARC and its affiliates to receive higher payments to which they were not entitled.
In addition to ARC’s purported upcoding practices, the Government alleged that, from January 2019 to December 2024, ARC’s affiliates billed duplicate office visits to Kentucky Medicaid and billed for office visits that were already reimbursed under an inclusive per diem rate. One of ARC’s affiliates also allegedly charged for care management services that did not meet Kentucky Medicaid’s coverage requirements, including services performed by ARC employees who lacked the necessary credentials.
The civil judgment and settlement agreement resolve the qui tam case captioned United States ex rel. Rikki Pope, et al. v. Addiction Recovery Care, LLC, Case No. 0:23-cv-51-DLB, which was recently unsealed by the Court. The amount of the judgment, which will be paid over several years, was negotiated and reduced due to Defendants’ financial condition and prospects for ongoing operations. As part of this resolution, the individuals who filed the qui tamcomplaint are eligible to receive a portion of the settlement proceeds.
This matter was investigated by the Affirmative Civil Enforcement section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with assistance from the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Kentucky Office of Attorney General, Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan Stubblebine and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Katie Sheridan represented the United States.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
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