Florida finds no evidence of fraud by Miami hospital charging $150 for COVID-19 tests
Florida’s top law enforcement officer has closed the state’s fraud investigation into Larkin Community Hospital, finding no evidence of wrongdoing by the hospital for charging $150 for COVID-19 tests that Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump said would be free for consumers.
The office of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody launched the probe after DeSantis called for an investigation of a South Florida hospital that was charging $150 per test. DeSantis did not name the hospital, but Larkin was the only hospital in the region charging for tests at the time the governor made the request on March 27.
In a news conference in March, he said called the $150 charge “not acceptable here in the state of Florida. The president has made clear … the tests are free.”
Kylie Mason, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said the agency closed the case after a month-long investigation revealed no evidence of fraud.
“Based on our office’s in-depth review of the facts, including a specific analysis of their processes, disclosures and costs, it appears that no violation of state or federal law has occurred and no further action is required by our office at this time,” Mason said in a prepared statement.
State investigators concluded that Larkin had publicly announced that the hospital would be charging $150 for COVID-19 tests and provided the service as advertised. Larkin continues to offer testing at its drive-thru site in Hialeah at a charge of $150 each.
Larkin CEO Jack Michel said that as of June 1, more than 20,700 people have been tested at the drive-thru site with 3,436 cases of COVID-19 confirmed. Michel said Larkin has also begun testing residents of Miami-Dade assisted living facilities at no charge.
“We are proud of taking the lead in providing high volume testing to the community,” he said in a prepared statement.
Maria Chacon, of Miami, one of the consumers who complained to the attorney general’s office about the charge for the test, said she was disappointed at the outcome of the investigation.
“We thought that at least we would get our money back, but nothing like that happened,” she said.
The drive-thru test site at Larkin’s Palm Springs campus in Hialeah opened March 20 and provides the molecular test for active SARS-CoV-2 infection. Testing was limited to city employees, healthcare workers and first responders at first, but Larkin later opened the drive-thru site to all persons.
Larkin employees collect the samples and send them for processing to Cardotropic Labs, a local subsidiary of the hospital, and to BioReference Labs, a commercial laboratory in New Jersey.
The $150 fee charged by Larkin exceeds the amount paid by public health insurance programs. Medicare reimburses healthcare providers $100 for a COVID-19 test; Florida’s Medicaid program pays $35 to $100 for a test, depending on the type of test and when it was taken.
Florida’s investigation of Larkin revealed that Michel, who owns the hospital, had bought 45,000 collection kits for $483,750 — a rate of about $10.75 per kit.
The state’s investigation also found that at least 61 people who had been tested received Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled Floridians. At the time, Medicaid was reimbursing providers $35.92 and $51.33 for COVID-19 tests, depending on the type of test. But state investigators found no instances where Larkin had charged a consumer $150 and also billed Medicaid for a COVID-19 test performed at the drive-thru site.
About two days after Larkin opened its drive-thru site, the Florida attorney general’s office received an anonymous complaint from a consumer that the hospital was price gouging for COVID-19 tests and wouldn’t accept insurance. Mason said the agency received at least 10 complaints from consumers who alleged that Larkin was price gouging by charging for the tests.
Yohasnely Marino of Hialeah wrote to the attorney general on March 22, the same day she was tested, to complain that COVID-19 tests were supposed to be free, according to state records. Marino did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Her complaint called Larkin’s practice of charging for COVID-19 testing “an injustice.”
“This location is suppose to be helping the Hialeah location community with testings. They are requesting $150 for each person that needs to get tested,” Marino wrote in her complaint. “At this moment there are people who are not able to work and have no means to pay for the testing. As our president said it will be provided for free.”
Nicole Melrose of Miami Beach alleged in her complaint that Larkin had misled her and provided testing on March 23 even though she did not meet the criteria. Melrose said she had no comment about the state closing the investigation.
“At the time of my testing their website did not list that there were free options available nor did I have to fill out any forms online to be tested,” she wrote in the complaint. “Later I found out after my testing that I did not even meet the actual CDC guidelines to be tested as I had not recently traveled internationally to a hot zone, I’m not immunocompromised, and am not over 65 years of age.”
Chacon, the woman from Miami who complained about Larkin, said she sought out a COVID-19 test because she wanted to be “100 percent sure” that she did not have the disease before returning to work at an import and export office.
Chacon, 25, said she had been experiencing shortness of breath and coughing.
“There weren’t a lot of places doing testing. This is what we could find,” she said. “We went there thinking we at least have to pay a copay or something ... but at the end we had to pay the whole thing.”
Chacon said she stayed home from work for eight days waiting to receive her results. Her test came back negative.
“It was just the common cold,” she said.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 3:55 PM.
