Medicare Fraud Illegal Kickback Lawsuits, Medicare Fraud Medical Device Kickback Lawsuits, Illegal Hospital Kickback False Claims Act Lawsuits, Medicaid Fraud Kickback Lawsuits, and other Illegal Kickback Qui Tam Health Care Fraud Lawsuits

Medicare Fraud Illegal Kickback Lawsuits, Medicare Fraud Medical Device Kickback Lawsuits, Illegal Hospital Kickback False Claims Act Lawsuits, Medicaid Fraud Kickback Lawsuits, and other Illegal Kickback Qui Tam Health Care Fraud Lawsuits by Medicaid and Medicare Illegal Kickback Whistleblower Lawyer Jason S. Coomer

Medicare Fraud and Medicaid Fraud Whistleblowers are stepping forward to blow the whistle on illegal kickbacks that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.  The anti-kickback statute makes it illegal for health care providers to knowingly and willfully accept bribes or kickbacks in return for generating Medicare referrals, Medicaid referrals, Tricare referrals, or other federal healthcare program business.  The federal anti-kickback law's main purpose is to protect patients and federal health care programs from fraud and abuse by curtailing the corrupting influence of money on health care decisions.  

   

Medicare & Medicaid Referral Kickback Lawsuits, Federal Health Program Medical Provider Referral and Service Kickback Law Claims, and other Qui Tam Health Care Fraud Lawsuits (Whistleblower Law Suits)

The Anti-Kickback Statute prevents payoffs to those who have the power to influence health care decisions and potentially make a profit at the expense of patients and the Federal Government.  This prohibition removes potential economic incentives that could influence health care providers to refer or recommend medical goods and services that are medically inappropriate, medically unnecessary, of poor quality, or even harmful to a vulnerable patient population. This legislation combined with the Federal False Claims Act protects federal health care programs from difficult to detect kickback referrals and services as well as provides economic incentives to whistle blowers properly report medical providers that are wrongfully taking money through bribes, and unlawful kickbacks.

Heart Device Manufacturer in Minnesota and Hospitals in Ohio & Kentucky to Pay Nearly $4 Million to Resolve Fraud Allegations

St. Jude Medical Inc., a heart device manufacturer; Parma Community General Hospital; and Norton Healthcare have paid the United States $3,898,300 to resolve false claim allegations that St. Jude paid illegal kickbacks to two hospitals to secure heart-device business, the Justice Department announced today. The government alleges the kickbacks caused false claims to be submitted to federal health care programs in violation of the False Claims Act. The kickbacks included alleged rebates that were "retroactive" and paid based on a hospital’s previous purchases of St. Jude heart-device equipment and rebates that St. Jude paid for purchases of heart-device equipment sold by its competitors to induce purchases of similar equipment from St. Jude in the future.

Under the terms of the settlement, St. Jude, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., will pay $3,725,000. Parma Community General Hospital, located in Parma, Ohio, is paying $40,000, and Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Ky., is paying $133,300. The government asserted that Parma and Norton were recipients of improper rebates from St. Jude.

"Hospitals should base their purchasing decisions on what is in the best interests of their patients," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "We will act aggressively to ensure that choices about health care are not tainted by illegal kickbacks."

This action was initiated by the filing of an action under the False Claims Act by Jerry Hudson. Under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the Act, private citizens may bring lawsuits on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. Mr. Hudson’s share of the settlement announced today will be $640,050.

"The Department of Justice is committed to requiring that federal healthcare monies are properly spent," said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. "This case illustrates the necessity of oversight of federal health care programs in the United States."

The settlement was the result of an investigation by the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the FBI.

This settlement is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover approximately $3.0 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.

Medicare & Medicaid Referral Kickback Lawsuits, Federal Health Program Medical Provider Referral and Service Kickback Law Claims, and other Qui Tam Health Care Fraud Lawsuits (Whistleblower Law Suits)

In 1972, the United States Congress passed the anti-kickback statute which made it illegal for providers, including doctors, to knowingly and willfully accept bribes or other forms of remuneration in return for generating Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare program business.  The federal anti-kickback law's main purpose was to protect patients and federal health care programs from fraud and abuse by curtailing the corrupting influence of money on health care decisions.  The legislation prevents payoffs to those who have the power to influence health care decisions.  This prohibition removes potential economic incentives that could influence health care providers to refer or recommend medical goods and services that are medically inappropriate, medically unnecessary, of poor quality, or even harmful to a vulnerable patient population. This legislation protects federal health care programs from difficult to detect kickback referrals and services as well as works with other laws to provide incentives for whistle blowers that are aware of medical providers that are wrongfully taking money to benefit from disclosing these unlawful kickbacks.

Federal Anti-Kickback Statute Lawsuits, Federal Health Care Program Referral Claim Lawsuits, Federal Health Care Program Medical Supply Bribery Claim Lawsuits, and Benefits for Generating Medicare, Medicaid, Champus/Tricare, and other Federal Health Care Program Lawsuits

The Anti-Kickback statute prohibits any person or business entity from making or accepting payment to induce or reward any person for referring, recommending or arranging for the purchase of any item or service for which payment may be made under a federally-funded health care program. The statute prohibits kickbacks, bribes, inducements, rewards, and other economic incentives that induce physicians to refer patients for services or recommend purchase of medical supplies that will be reimbursable under government health care programs.

Health Care Provider claims for reimbursement to federal health care programs for services or medical supplies that are the result of bribes, kickbacks, or other economic incentives are false claims and are subject to potential Medicare Fraud Kickback Lawsuits including Medicare Anti-Kickback Statute Lawsuits, Medicaid False Claims Act Lawsuits, and other Federal Health Care Program Fraud Lawsuits.

Failure of  a health care provider to comply with the Anti-Kickback Statute is a precondition to participation in federal health care programs and violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute can result in loss of funding, payments, and reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal Health Care Programs. 

Because the Anti-Kickback Statute was initially broad on its face, concerns arose among health care providers that some beneficial commercial arrangements were prohibited. Responding to these concerns, Congress authorized "safe harbors" for various payment and business practices that, while potentially prohibited by the law, would not be prosecuted.  The Antikickback Statute contains certain exceptions or "safe habors", which allow conduct that would otherwise violate the statute including allowing the Secretary of Department of Health and Human Service to promulgate regulations which identify  practices which do not violate the Antikickback Statute. Some of these safe habors can be found at 42 C.F.R. § 1001.952.   

Medicare Fraud Kickback Lawsuits, Medicaid Fraud Kickback Lawsuits, and the Government Contractor Fraud Qui Tam Whistleblower Lawsuit Information Center (False Claims Act Medicare Fraudulent Kickback Whistleblower Qui Tam Action Information)

For more information on Medicare Fraud, Tricare Fraud, Medicaid Fraud, Defense Contractor Fraud, Off Label Fraud, Road Construction Fraud, and other types of False Claims Act Whistleblower Claims, please go to the Medicaid and Medicare Fraud Kickback Lawsuit Webpage on the Texas Medicare Fraud Illegal Kickback Lawyer Website or the  Qui Tam, Whistleblower, and Federal Federal False Claims Act Information Center.