Philadelphia personal injury law firm Simon & Simon has entered into a settlement with the government to resolve claims that it failed to reimburse Medicare for paying its clients' medical expenses, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia announced late Wednesday.

As part of the settlement, Simon & Simon will pay approximately $6,600 to the government stemming from Medicare payments for eight of the firm's clients.

Federal prosecutors alleged that at various points between 2014 and 2019, Medicare made conditional payments to health care providers to satisfy medical bills for the clients at issue. Prosecutors claimed that Medicare demanded payment, but the firm failed to satisfy the debt.

Simon & Simon CEO Marc Simon declined to comment on why the firm missed the payments, but said that the firm was "happy to reimburse" Medicare.

"We have worked hand in glove with Medicare since my firm opened in 2010 to reimburse them moneys they've paid on behalf of injured clients and we're happy to move forward and resolve these eight claims," Simon said in an interview Wednesday evening.

He added, "Without Medicare making payments for my clients' treatments and care, it would significantly hamper my firm's ability to bring claims against people for injuring clients and hamper access to doctors and treatment that my clients desperately need."

U.S. Attorney William McSwain said in a statement that the settlement should be a reminder to attorneys to follow the rules.

"This settlement agreement should remind personal injury lawyers and others of their obligation to reimburse Medicare when they receive settlement or judgment proceeds for their clients," McSwain said. "Lawyers need to set a good example and follow the rules of the road for Medicare reimbursement. If they don't, we will move aggressively to recover the money for taxpayers."

In addition to the lump sum payment, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Simon & Simon agreed to  "(1) name a person responsible for paying Medicare secondary payer debts; (2) train the employee to ensure that the firm pays these debts on a timely basis; (3) review any additional outstanding debts to ensure compliance; and (4) provide written certifications of compliance."

Simon & Simon's settlement comes after a similar one between Rosenbaum & Associates and the government in 2018.

That settlement required Rosenbaum to pay a lump sum of $28,000 and to implement a compliance program that ensures the firm won't fall behind in reimbursing the government again.

Those allegations dealt with cases of nine clients the Rosenbaum firm did work for between 2011 and 2017, one of whom filed for bankruptcy. In these cases, the firm received payments from insurance companies, workers' compensation carriers and those liable for injuring the clients.