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Monday, June 23, 1997

Congressman's wife to sell troubled health care agency

BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) - The wife of U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson says she will sell a home health-care agency that had drawn Republican allegations of Medicare fraud.

Susan Lampson had said last month that Jefferson County Home Health Care owed the federal government about $200,000 in unpaid Medicare fees related to her home health-care firm.

She said she hopes the sale will restore stability to the firm, which she said has suffered from unfair Republican attacks that made her "feel like I've been a black cloud" over the business.

Mrs. Lampson's husband is a Beaumont Democrat who defeated one-term GOP incumbent Steve Stockman of Friendswood in last November's 9th Congressional District election.

The allegations first arose late in the campaign, and were revived last month by Kent Adams, chairman of the Jefferson County GOP executive committee.

No state or federal agency has accused the Lampsons of fraud, and she and her husband have denied any wrongdoing.

In an opinion issued Feb. 6, the House Ethics Committee said the congressman faced no conflict of interest in voting on Medicare or home health agencies in general.

Despite the opinion, Adams said Mrs. Lampson's decision "makes a lot of sense."

"There are inherent conflicts of interest in that that business is primarily, if not entirely, funded by Medicare dollars," Adams said. "I think in the minds of the public, regardless of what the committee said, that was a concern and this will help alleviate that concern."

Nick Lampson launched the business in 1993 with a partner and eventually became sole owner. After he decided to run for Congress, his wife quit her teaching job in May of 1995 and replaced him as administrator, and he transferred his stock to her name seven months later.

Once serving 80 patients, Jefferson County Home Health Care began losing ground after Adams' attacks. By May, when Adams repeated his claims, the company's case load had dwindled to about 40 patients, and now there are fewer, Mrs. Lampson said.

Mrs. Lampson said she hopes to complete the sale by August, and would prefer to sell the business to an employee or group of employees. Her husband said he supports his wife's decision to sell and return to teaching in the fall.

"Teaching special-education children was always her first love," he said. "This decision was made in the best interests of our family life and the loyal, hard-working employees of the business who have become our friends."

Under the government's cost-based reimbursement method, institutions receive interim payments during the year. At the end of the year, cost reports attributed to Medicare beneficiaries are audited, and costs may be disallowed.

Jefferson County Home Health Care owed Medicare $67,036 for the nine-month report ended March 31, according to the agency's accountant. The agency owed another $124,000 to $134,000 from disputed billings dating to Aug. 1, 1995, Mrs. Lampson said.

She said she is paying off the amount in installments and that it will probably be paid in full in 12 months.

Adams argued that the amount owed was more than $300,000, based on letters he said he received anonymously last month. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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