The federal government has joined a whistleblower lawsuit against a Florida hospice over what it says were fraudulent Medicare payments, the Department of Justice announced.
First, it was the U.S. Supreme Court’s turn to leave providers in suspense. Now, it’s a group of decision-makers without robes who have operators holding their breath.
A proposed rule that would require Medicare providers to return overpayments within 60 days of detection could significantly increase administrative time and costs, an expert says.
A federal judge has declined to dismiss a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson. The healthcare giant now will have to defend itself in court against allegations that it paid illegal kickbacks to influence sale of antipsychotics to nursing home residents.
The U.S. departments of Justice and Health and Human Services recovered a total of $4 billion in fiscal 2010 from healthcare fraud cases prosecuted under the False Claims Act, according to a new report from the annual Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program. A record-breaking $2.5 billion came from fraud judgments backed by whistle-blowers and ramped up collection efforts, administration officials said. The balance was collected through administrative findings.
