Negril Incorporated, a mental health services provider in Danville, Virginia, has agreed to a $1,817,910.60 civil settlement over allegations that it billed the Virginia Medicaid program improperly. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia announced the resolution on October 19. The release says there has been no admission of wrongdoing and no determination of liability.
A provider number lent to a company that was not enrolled
The government’s allegations center on a billing arrangement. From January 2021 through May 2022, prosecutors say, Negril billed Virginia Medicaid for mental health skill-building services under its own National Provider Identification number, the identifier a provider uses to bill.
The company that actually provided the services had no such number, the release says. It also was not credentialed through the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and was not enrolled as a Medicaid provider.
Under the arrangement, Negril submitted the claims, passed 75 percent of each Medicaid reimbursement to the company that did the work and kept 25 percent. On every $100 Medicaid paid, in other words, Negril kept $25 and the unenrolled company received $75. The release says Negril and its owners caused false claims to be submitted, but it does not name the owners.
The inspector general’s description adds who proposed the setup. Negril, a Virginia mental health services provider, proposed an arrangement in which another person formed a separate company that billed Virginia Medicaid using Negril’s number, according to the HHS inspector general’s corporate integrity directory. The directory says the company “improperly billed Virginia Medicaid using Negril’s NPI number.”
Nothing to file and no check to cash
Nobody in the public has a form to file. The announcements describe a False Claims Act case brought in the government’s name, United States et al. v. Negril Incorporated et al., and neither the Justice Department release nor the HHS inspector general’s enforcement listing sets up a claim process or a deadline.
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That matters for the many families who read a headline about Medicaid money and wonder whether some of it is theirs. In this case the money resolves the government’s allegations of improper billing, and the releases say nothing about payments to patients or to anyone outside the case.
The settlement resolves claims under the False Claims Act and the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, and the release calls them allegations only. The Justice Department release does not say how the money will be divided or whether any of it is restitution, and no whistleblower is named. Negril is to pay the $1,817,910.60 over five years, according to the inspector general’s directory.
A five-year listing on the inspector general’s directory
That directory entry carries a report type of “Heightened Scrutiny” and a five-year duration. Its status field reads “Refused on September 21, 2026,” about four weeks before the settlement was announced. The inspector general has not explained those labels on the page.
A corporate integrity agreement is the usual tool in these cases. The inspector general describes it as an agreement between an entity and the Office of Inspector General that sets compliance obligations and is often part of a civil settlement, with the office agreeing not to seek the company’s exclusion from federal health programs in exchange. Such agreements typically run five years and require a compliance officer and annual reports, according to the inspector general’s overview of the program.
The government filed the case on June 12, 2026, as Docket No. 6:26-cv-00066 in the Western District of Virginia. That was just over four years after the billing period ended, and the settlement came about four months after the filing.
Who investigated and where to report
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert N. Tracci and HHS Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon announced the resolution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew G. Howells and Assistant Attorney General Kimberly M. Bolton of the Virginia Attorney General’s office handled the matter.
The investigators came from three offices: the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the HHS Office of Inspector General together with its Office of Counsel, and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Virginia Attorney General’s office.
The enforcement listing carries the subtitle “Resolution Continues Western District’s Commitment to the Mission of the Fraud Division.” That division, led by Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, says on its Justice Department page that it investigates and prosecutes those who commit fraud against the American people. The page lists a Whistleblower Rewards Program and an August 24 announcement of a National Fraud Detection Center aimed at fraud against taxpayer-funded programs.
The inspector general takes tips about Medicaid billing by phone at 1-800-HHS-TIPS and through an online complaint form at tips.oig.hhs.gov. The office says it accepts “tips and complaints from all sources,” that not every submission leads to an investigation, and that it rarely steps into personal or civil disputes. Anyone seeking a refund or benefits is told to pursue other remedies.
What the announcements leave out is how Negril’s clients fared. Neither describes what happened to people who received the skill-building services, or whether those services stopped. For Medicaid households in Virginia, the open question is whether any of the $1.8 million is meant for them, and nothing announced says it is.
Is any Medicaid settlement money waiting for the public?
Government settlements like this one have no claim form, but settlements that do open claims come with notices whose dates trip people up, and a late filing is a lost payment.
This case has no claim to file, so the related job is tracking the settlements that do. The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice and a claim log and payment tracker, and its source vault lists the 12 official places money sits.
Track the next settlement with a claim log and payment tracker →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
