Jersey City is being sued by the federal government for allegedly refusing to reimburse the agency that oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs for 10 years of insurance payouts for a former firefighter.
The amount that the city — which operates under a $700 million-plus municipal budget and a $1 billion schools’ spending plan — is contesting? A paltry $9,300.
Former Jersey City Firefighter Eugene Mahan had $35,330 in medical bills between 2000 and 2010, and Medicare paid out $9,629 that should have been the responsibility of Jersey City as the primary insurer, the 4-page lawsuit says. The medical bills stemmed from an accident that occurred March 1, 1991.
Mahan, who died Sept. 15, 2010, was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II and the Battle of the Bulge, the deadliest battle of WWII.
In 2018, Jersey City sent Medicare a check for $324.07 and eventually disputed the remainder of the bill, saying it had already paid the balance. The city’s appeal was denied in 2020, sparking a new round of debt notices from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) demanding payment.
With 10.25% interest, the government claims the city now owes $14,272.
Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said the city has not received the lawsuit, which was filed May 23. She declined to comment on the suit, citing city policy.
The cost, either in outside counsel or city employee hours, would likely far exceed the amount currently owed.
Likewise, it appears the federal government spent far more attempting to collect the bill. Jersey City’s case was transferred from CMS to the Department of the Treasury’s Debt Management Services and then forwarded to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Now it’s being handled by a private law firm for the DOJ.
