Category: Medicare

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER DaVita HealthCare Partners, a Denver-based company, has agreed to pay up to $495 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit accusing the company of defrauding the federal Medicare program. This is the third settlement of a whistleblower lawsuit by DaVita since 2012. Dr. Alon J. Vainer and nurse Daniel […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Department of Justice is investigating Medicare risk scores, as whistleblower lawsuits alleging billing abuses in privately run Medicare plans have recently increased. At least half a dozen of these lawsuits have been filed under the False Claims Act since 2010, including two that recently surfaced. Medicare Advantage […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Department of Justice has announced that it has intervened in a whistleblower lawsuit against one of the nation’s largest nursing home chains, HCR ManorCare. The Department of Justice alleges that HCR ManorCare, a nursing home chain based in Ohio, overbilled Medicare patients. The whistleblower lawsuit was originally […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Three former managers of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation have filed Federal, as well as Florida State, whistleblower claims under the federal False Claims Act and Florida False Claims Act. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the nation’s largest supplier of HIV/AIDS medical care, is charged with defrauding Federal healthcare programs […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER San Francisco nursing home abuse attorneys say that quality of care at nursing homes is suffering, as homes are competing with one another to receive Medicare funds. This competition leads nursing homes to invest in amenities to attract patients needing short-term rehab after a hospitalization for an injury […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER More than a half-dozen whistleblowers nationwide have recently filed qui tam/false claim lawsuits alleging systematic over-billing by Medicare Advantage plans, according to San Francisco based qui tam/fraudulent claim lawyers. Medicare Advantage allows the government to pay different amounts for senior care based on each patient’s risk score. It […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER During the 2014 fiscal year, the government’s whistleblower program has been the most successful yet. According to the New York Times, the Justice Department recovered $5.69 billion for false claims per the False Claims Act in 2014. The two biggest settlements included recovery for faulty mortgages and Medicare […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Stark Law prevents doctors from receiving kickbacks by referring Medicare and Medicaid patients for designated health services (DHS.) Referrals for DHS include physical therapy, occupational therapy, radiology, computerized axial tomography scans, ultrasounds, radiation services, and such. This law however, contains exceptions. Doctors may refer patients for physician […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER There is great concern about increased antipsychotic use on the elderly, in nursing homes. These powerful drugs were originally developed to treat major psychoses such as schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder, and are now FDA approved for the treatment of mild anxiety and insomnia. Elders who are prescribed […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Consumer Watchdog reports that doctors across the country are committing Medicare fraud by ordering medical tests for senior citizens that are unwarranted. Senior citizens, who are the age group least likely to be addicted to illegal drugs, are being tested by their doctors for drugs, such as ecstasy, […]