The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration on April 13, 2021, halted the use of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that has been given to 6.8 million people in the U.S. The pause is due to reports of blood clotting in six people who have received the […]
Large government payments helped 2020 Missouri net farm income match or exceed the 2014 record of $3.4 billion, according to Abigail Meffert, senior research associate with the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). Missouri’s outlook falls in line with the U.S. Agricultural Market Outlook, a summary of 10-year baseline projections presented […]
Auditor Galloway outlined the successes of her Public Corruption and Fraud Division, which has contributed significantly to her office’s fight against public corruption. Auditor Galloway launched the division and announced efforts to direct increased resources towards investigations of fraud and abuse at the start of 2019. “I am proud of the work of my team and […]
USDA has now given out more than half of the second Coronavirus Food Assistance Program’s funds to farmers. As of October 25th, the agency had approved more than $7.6 billion. Payments to corn growers remain at the top of the list at nearly $2.2 billion followed by cattle with almost $1.7 billion, soybeans at more than […]
State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released a statement after the head of a hospital management company and nine other people were charged in a federal indictment of conspiring to operate a multi-state $1.4 billion billing scheme that used rural hospitals to submit fraudulent claims. The scheme was first uncovered after a 2017 audit of Putnam County Memorial […]
Ten people have been charged in a 1.4 billion dollar rural healthcare billing scheme that includes a northern Missouri hospital. The individuals, including hospital managers, lab owners, and billers, are accused of participating in a scheme using rural hospitals in several states, including Missouri, as billing shells to submit false claims for lab […]
A former executive of a northern Missouri hospital pleaded guilty in federal court in Florida to a $114 million pass-through billing scheme. The Justice Department in Washington says former Putnam County Memorial Hospital chief executive officer David Lane Byrns pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Byrns pleaded […]
Reports indicate the former Chief Executive Officer at Putnam County Memorial Hospital in Unionville, David Byrns has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Charges were filed with the US District Court for Western Missouri, however, it is expected further proceedings will be held in a federal […]
Corn: Planted area is estimated at 3.25 million acres, down 7 percent from last year. Harvested area, forecast at 3.6 million acres, is down 8 percent from 2018. Based on August 1 conditions, the Missouri corn yield is forecast at 160 bushels per acre, up 20 bushels from 2018. Production is forecast at 490 million […]
A judge has dismissed a case against the Missouri State Auditor’s Office and the Putnam County Hospital Board brought by Hospital Partners, Incorporated. Inc. In 2017, Galloway released an audit that found a $90 million billing scheme being perpetrated by the company at the rural hospital. The case was filed in April 2018 by Hospital […]
New data from the Missouri Hospital Association reveals that in 2017, the state’s hospitals provided more than $1.4 billion in uncompensated care and exceeded $3.3 billion in total community benefit — record totals for both categories. The report and hospital-specific data are available on the association’s consumer data site, FocusOnHospitals.com. “Hospitals are committed to building […]
State Auditor Nicole Galloway has issued a follow-up report of Putnam County Memorial Hospital in northern Missouri. Her report last year uncovered $90 million in inappropriate lab billings. The findings of the audit were covered by national news outlets and resulted in calls for a federal investigation into hospital billing schemes. “Our audit revealed a […]
