Government Intervenes in Lawsuit against IPC The Hospitalist and other Whistleblower News (December 13, 2013)

The whistleblower attorneys at Goldberg Kohn are committed to fighting fraud against the government and protecting the rights of whistleblowers. Below are summaries of recent developments pertaining to whistleblower, qui tam, and False Claims Act actions throughout the United States.

Government Intervenes in False Claims Act Lawsuit Against IPC The Hospitalist

The government has intervened in a lawsuit originally filed by Goldberg Kohn, Ltd. against IPC The Hospitalist Co. Inc. and its subsidiaries (IPC) – one of the largest providers of hospitalist services in the country. The lawsuit alleges that IPC submitted false claims to federal health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid by seeking payment for higher and more expensive medical services than those that were actually performed – a practice commonly referred to as “upcoding.”

Specifically, IPC allegedly encouraged its doctors to bill at the highest levels available, regardless of the level of service provided, by training physicians to use higher level codes and encouraging physicians with lower billing levels to “catch up” to their peers.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a former IPC physician under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. The physician and his lawyers at Goldberg Kohn applaud the government for its decision to intervene in this important case. As the government stated in its press release, “the intervention illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud.”

Under the False Claims Act, the government is allowed to recover up to three times its damages plus civil penalties. The government has asked the U.S. District Court in Chicago for 120 days to file its own complaint stating its allegations.

Northrop Grumman to Pay $11.4 Million to Settle False Claims Act Violations

Northrop Grumman has agreed to pay $11.4 million to resolve accusations that the company violated the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and False Claims Act as a result of its failure to abide by a 2002 settlement agreement with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). In the 2002 settlement agreement, Northrop agreed that it would limit the amount of deferred compensation included in proposals for subsequent contracts, but according to the government, Northrop passed on to federal contracts certain 

Please contact us at (312) 863-7222 if you would like to learn more about any of the aforementioned whistleblower news updates or would like to schedule a free, confidential appointment with one of our nationally-recognized whistleblower attorneys.

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 |  Print TAGS: Healthcare Fraud, Upcoding