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Aug 21, 2020 by |

California Whistleblower Attorney: Nursing Home Chain Settles False Claims Act Case

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER

Three Former Employees Blow Whistle On Alleged Overbilling

Allegations Of Unnecessary Treatment Paid For By Medicare

Whistleblowers To Share $3 Million Award

Under the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq., the federal government rewards whistleblowers who present credible information of false claims for reimbursements under Medicare and Medicaid. The California whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent whistleblowers/relators in FCA cases against healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, government contractors, product manufacturers, research institutions, and others who may commit fraud against the government by overcharging, billing for unnecessary services, illegal referrals, false diagnoses, kickbacks, and/or falsifying data. If you have credible information for a false claims whistleblower case or any other whistleblower case in California, call us today at (415)441-8669 and we can help.

Allegations of overbilling by nursing homes is one example of false claims in the healthcare industry. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently announced settlements of several cases against nursing homes for alleged overbilling. In the most recent,* the government settled an FCA whistleblower case for $16.7 million where the case had been brought by three former employees alleging a chain of 27 nursing homes submitted false claims for rehabilitation therapy in a systematic effort to increase Medicare billings. According to the complaint, the nursing home chain allegedly pressured physical and occupational therapists to increase the amount of therapy provided to patients in order to meet management’s pre-planned targets for Medicare revenue. These targets were alleged to have been set without regard to patients’ individual therapy needs and could only be achieved by billing a high percentage of patients at the most expensive therapy levels whether those patients needed therapy at that level or not.

Protection for Whistleblowers

Former employees such as the three therapists in the reported case, may have credible information of false claims against the government. Federal law protects insiders/employees against retaliation from employers for blowing the whistle on fraud. If you are fired because you brought any fraud to light, you can fight back. You may be entitled to sue your employer in federal court and seek double back pay (with interest), reinstatement, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and reimbursement for certain costs in connection with the litigation. Our California whistleblower attorneys can represent you in any action for retaliation as well as represent you in your underlying whistleblower application.

Contact Us

Our whistleblower attorneys handle all types of whistleblower cases in addition to false claims cases, including cases for bank fraud under FIRREA/FIAFEA, commodity trading and securities fraud under the Commodities Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program and the Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program, and tax fraud under the Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Program. If you or a loved one has information regarding false claims, offshore tax avoidance schemes against the IRS, or securities and commodity trading fraud in violation of SEC and CFTC regulations, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other California whistleblower and false claims attorneys at Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with complex financial contracts and large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.

*Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.

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