CA Hospice’s Medicare Fraud: Inflating Patient Lifespans
When a program created to provide important end-of-life services is so often the victim of fraud, should we blame the broken system itself, or instead turn focus to those committing the fraudulent acts? It seems an easy question to answer, but describes the ongoing situation of hospice care – a system which regularly undergoes scrutiny […]
Texas Home Health Agency Paid Patient Recruiters Illegal Kickbacks
After a nine-year conspiracy, a Houston-based home health agency has finally been brought to justice after defrauding Medicare for over $13 million. It was found that, between February 2006 and June 2015, the agency submitted falsified medical records and paid kickbacks to patient recruiters, physicians, and Medicare beneficiaries in order to bilk Medicare for services […]
Kickbacks Prove That Sharing Is Not Always Caring
A $42 million settlement marks the end of a four-year investigation which alleged that PAMC Ltd. And Pacific Alliance Medical Center, Inc. together submitted false claims to both the federal government and the State of California and consequently used the reimbursements to violate the Anti-Kickback Statue and Stark Laws. The settlement will be split between […]
Texas Doctor’s $400M Medicare Fraud Scheme Uncovered
In an exceptionally heinous example of home healthcare fraud, seven doctors have been apprehended for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud both Medicare and Medicaid alike. Altogether, they have been ordered to pay over $342 million in restitution to recover the money bilked by the extensive false claims submitted over the course of the […]
Hospitals Settle for $8.6M in Kickback & Ambulance Fraud Case
In a case brought to light by three whistleblowers, four Texas-based hospitals were alleged to have been paid a substantial amount of kickbacks from an array of emergency transportation providers in exchange for Medicare and Medicaid referrals. This practice, a direct violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, resulted in the four hospitals paying $8.6 million to […]
First Settlement of Its Kind Holds Medical Facility Accountable for AKS Violation
The emergency transportation industry is well-known for being a hotbed of fraud, especially in cases involving shady alliances made with medical facilities; when it comes to settlements involving these schemes, allegations are generally brought against the ambulance companies themselves rather than their counterparts in the agreement – until now. In what is believed to be […]
Healthcare Giant’s Fraud Settlement Marks a Dubious Record
Even fifteen years after their colossal 2002 payout, which is still recognized as the largest fraud settlement in United States history, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) remains a frequent topic of discussion at the Department of Justice. Surely, it’s not hard to see why; HCA owns and operates 162 hospitals and 113 surgery facilities, the […]
Bribery, Kickbacks, and Fraud – Oh My! California Settles Largest Medical Fraud at an Unprecedented $600 Million
In what is being called the largest in California history, a now-defunct Long Beach hospital has been discovered to have engaged in an egregious healthcare fraud scandal – one that resulted in up to $600 million in claims being filed and consequently reimbursed. Pacific Hospital was involved in a variety of unscrupulous financial relationships in […]
Ex-Employee Blows Whistle on California’s Largest Nursing Home Provider
Following an investigation that arose from a whistleblower suit, the corporate owner of four San Diego-area nursing homes has agreed to pay $6.9 million to resolve multiple fraud allegations. The sister facilities, owned by Los-Angeles based Brius Management Co., purportedly paid illegal kickbacks to cultivate patient referrals and subsequently file numerous false claims to Medicare […]
AstraZeneca and Medco: A Powerful (and Dishonest) Alliance
Following a whistleblower suit, pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca agreed to pay $7.9 million to resolve claims that stated their engagement in a massive kickback scheme with a distributor, offering remuneration in exchange for inappropriate marketing of their popular drug Nexium. The alleged relationship involved a pharmacy benefit manager formerly known as Medco (now ExpressScripts), who was […]
Whistleblower Suit Results in Hewlett-Packard’s $55 Million Payout
As one part of a colossal case against a multitude of information technology contractors, Hewlett-Packard (HP) has agreed to pay $55 million to settle claims that they offered kickbacks in order to unlawfully obtain contracts with various federal agencies. This settlement was just one part of a whistleblower suit that alleged the involvement of dozens […]
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Vulnerable To Fraud
In a case riddled with collusion and bribery, a Virginia man was found to have exploited the government’s preferential treatment towards veteran-owned businesses in a brazen fraud scheme, resulting in the receipt of millions in wrongfully awarded contracts. Using his position as a sales representative for two separate Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, or SDVOSBs, he purposefully […]