Kentucky News Now – June 4th 2014

HEALTH CARE BILLINGS

Doctors, practice settle billings case for $3.7M

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Federal authorities say an Elizabethtown medical practice and two owners have agreed to a $3.7 million settlement in a case alleging false billings for chemotherapy patients.

A settlement agreement announced Tuesday by the U.S. attorney's office in Louisville said federal and state officials contend that Dr. Rafiq Ur Rahman and Dr. Yusuf K. Deshmukh billed for unnecessary evaluations and along with their practice, Elizabethtown Hematology Oncology, extended chemotherapy times so they could improperly bill Medicare, Medicaid and other government health care programs.

Attorneys for Rahman and Deshmukh did not immediately return phone messages left after hours at their offices.

The U.S. attorney's office said some of the allegations were included in a "whistleblower" lawsuit brought by another physician, who will receive more than $280,000 in the settlement.

KENTUCKY LOBBYING

Smoking ban among priorities of 2014's lobbyists

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A public smoking ban that did not pass was among the top priorities of Kentucky's highest paid lobbyists this year.

A Virginia-based tobacco company spent the most money lobbying the 2014 state legislature, followed by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Kentucky Hospital Association.

A spokesman for Altria - which owns brands such as Marlboro, Skoal and Black & Mild - said the company did not lobby against the smoking ban. He said it lobbied against a series of proposed cigarette excise taxes that did not pass.

The chamber and the hospital association both lobbied for the smoking ban.

Overall lobbyist spending declined slightly to $8.7 million from the record $8.8 million in 2012. Most of that money was for lobbyist salaries, according to the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission.

USA HARVEST FOUNDER

USA Harvest founder pleads guilty to fraud

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The founder of USA Harvest has pleaded guilty to tax evasion, mail fraud and money laundering after admitting that he spent donations to the charity on himself.

Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, 65-year-old Hugh "Stan" Curtis will pay his original organization, Kentucky Harvest, $183,354 in restitution and faces prison time when he's sentenced in September.

Curtis had been scheduled to plead guilty in December 2012, but the hearing was delayed after questions about his competency. Curtis told a federal judge on Tuesday he had memory issues, but understood the charges.

USA Harvest used volunteers to pick up surplus food from restaurants, hotels, hospitals and various other food suppliers and delivered it to missions, soup kitchens, shelters and people in need. Prosecutors said USA Harvest is no longer in business.

BROWNFIELD GRANTS

2 brownfield projects receive grants totaling $1M

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Two projects in Kentucky have been picked for grants totaling $1 million to help redevelop contaminated properties.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brownfield community-wide assessment grants were announced Tuesday for areas in Frankfort and northern Kentucky.

The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection said Frankfort would receive $400,000, and the Northern Kentucky Area Development District and the cities of Newport and Covington would receive $600,000.

Frankfort will conduct assessments on brownfield properties in the Holmes Street Corridor, areas along the Kentucky River and the Second Street Corridor for damage from hazardous waste and petroleum.

In northern Kentucky, property along the Licking River Greenway will be assessed for redevelopment potential.

The state Division of Compliance Assistance says brownfields are properties that aren't being used because of contamination or perception of contamination.

COAL COMPANY-FISH KILL

Coal company cited after fish kill

(Information in the following story is from: Harlan Daily Enterprise, http://www.harlandaily.com )

HARLAN, Ky. (AP) — A coal company in eastern Kentucky has been cited for a chemical release that caused a fish kill along the Clover Fork branch of the Cumberland River.

Harlan County Emergency Management Director David McGill told the Harlan Daily Enterprise that a resident near the waterway reported seeing several dead fish. McGill said he determined the problem stemmed from an area coal operation and notified state officials.

Kentucky Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection official Linda Potter said inspectors went to Harlan on Saturday to evaluate the situation.

She said the Harlan/Cumberland Coal Company over-treated with a chemical after a line break and that caused the fish kill. She said the company was cited for allowing the chemical to enter the stream.

ETHICS COMMISSION

Stumbo, Stivers make appointment to ethics panel

(Information in the following story is from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com )

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A law professor at Northern Kentucky University has been chosen to fill a long-vacant seat on the Legislative Ethics Commission.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports House Speaker Greg Stumbo and Senate President Robert Stivers announced on Monday that Henry Stephens would fill the seat that has been open for two years. Stephens teaches at NKU's Salmon P. Chase College of Law.

The commission, which has nine members, was criticized recently for not having a majority of members present to hear allegations that a former lawmaker sexual harassed workers.

Stumbo, a Democrat, and Stivers, a Republican, jointly made the appointment. They each appoint four others to the panel.