FALSE CLAIMS ACT FREE CASE EVALUATION: 1-800-632-1404
2014 was indeed a great year for whistleblowers, says a Tennessee false claims attorney. The year saw the recovery of millions of dollars of Medicare/Medicaid/TennCare monies and other state and federal funds misappropriated through fraud, upcoding, and false billing. It is estimated that federal and state authorities close to $60 billion taxpayers’ money because of “fraud, waste, and abuse” every year. And here the role of whistleblower and their lawyers in recovering the public money defrauded is nothing less than national heroes. Over $25 billion were recovered nationwide, including $16 billion health-care funds, in the last five years preceding 2015.
The last year began with settlement of a Tennessee false claim lawsuit filed against a state cardiologist. Dr. Elie H. Korban paid $1.15 million to settle allegations of unnecessary cardiac stent placements raised in a qui tam claim. Whistleblower Dr. Wood M. Deming accused the Delta Clinic, owned by Dr. Korban, of performing “cardiac procedures that were not necessary or appropriate” between 2005 and 2008 with a motive to inflated medical bill patients reimbursed from federal health-care funding.
In November, CareAll Management LLC, a leading home health agency, agreed to pay $25 million to settle fasle billing allegation brought against it by a whistleblower. The Tennessee false claims attorney representing the qui tam plaintiff accused the service provider of “overstating the severity of patients’ conditions to increase billings and billed for services that were not medically necessary and rendered to patients who were not homebound.” The recovered Medicare and Medicaid money were misappropriated between 2006 and 2013. Toney Gonzales, the whistleblower, was awarded $3.9 million for his initiative in the recovery.
The month of August saw the biggest Tennessee false claims lawsuit settlement of the year. Community Health Systems, headquartered in Franklin, settled false claim allegations against it for $98 million. A number of whistleblower lawyers initiated multiple litigations against CHS in Tennessee, Illinois, and three other states. The allegations include “fraudulently billing Medicare and Medicaid between 2005 and 20110 for the unnecessary hospital stays, including admitting patients to emergency rooms that didn’t need to be hospitalized.”
The first lawsuit filed by a Tennessee whistleblower lawyer in 2011 reads “CHS has engaged in a systematic scheme [to] increase its revenues by making or causing to be made false claims for payment and/or approval to Medicare, and likely other third-party government payors as well, such as Medicaid, TriCare and government employee health plans.”
With Healthcare fraud continuing to be the most focused subject of suits filed by a Tennessee false claims attorney, many other recoveries were also made in 2014. Meridian Surgical Partners paid $5.12 million following fraud allegations. The company reportedly “offer and pay kickbacks to certain doctors in exchange for the doctor’s promise to secure patient referrals to its ambulatory surgical centers.” A reward of close to $1 million was awarded to the whistleblower.
In September, another Tennessee whistleblower lawsuit resulted in $11.3 million settlement. Medical device manufacturer Smith & Nephew was accused by one of its employees of supplying products rebranded with made-in-US tags. These supplies were originally procured from Malaysia. The whistleblower received $2.3 million in award in addition to $3 million for his Tennessee false claims attorney.
A Tennessee false claims act lawsuit provides for a reward ranging from 15 to 33 percent of the recovered amount for the whistleblower. It remains between 15 and 25 percent when the state joins the prosecution. The compensation goes up to a third of the total amount settled for, if the plaintiff proceeds without state support.
If you are aware of any type of fraud targeting Medicare or Medicaid funds, you have a chance to play the role of a hero and help in the recovery of the taxpayers’ money. To encourage whistleblower, the Tennessee False Claim Act allows the first filing relator a share of the total recovery or settlement as reward to them. For false claims free case evaluation, please call on 1-800-632-1404 to consult our expert false claims attorney in Tennessee.
Contact a Tennessee False Claims Act Attorney
We help whistleblowers on a contingency basis, meaning there is no fee charged for our work unless there is a recovery. We also front any and all expenses. No matter where you are located — we will represent you. We will come to you, you will not have to come to us. Attorneys in our firm and attorneys that we work with on Whistleblower, Qui Tam, False Claims Act cases have represented a host of persons making claims, for violations of federal tax law, Medicare law and more. For more information, please contact our team of whitsleblower and qui tam attorneys today.
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