Hospice Settles False Healthcare Claims for $3.9M; Whistleblowers to Get $712K

Posted: 03/14/2014  browse the blog archive
Hospice Settles False Healthcare Claims for $3.9M; Whistleblowers to Get $712K

CLP HealthcareServices, the parent company of Hospice Compassus, has agreed to pay $3.92 million to the U.S. government to settle allegations that the company knowingly submitted or caused the submission of false claims to federal health care programs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama announced yesterday.

Hospices provide palliative care – any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of disease symptoms – to patients who decide to forego curative care of their illness. Medicare beneficiaries are entitled to hospice care if they have a prognosis of six months or less to live. The government alleged that Hospice Compassus was submitting false claims for hospice care for patients who were not eligible for such care.

The two lawsuits were originally filed by two former Hospice Compassus employees under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act.  The Act allows private parties with knowledge of fraud against the government to sue on behalf of the government and share in the recover.  The unnamed whistleblowers received $712,000 between them as their portion of the settlement.

The Chanler Group, in association with the Hirst Law Group, represents whistleblowers who take action under the False Claims Act to report fraud committed against the federal and state governments.  We have years of experience representing whistleblower clients who expose every kind of fraud against the government, including health care fraud, contract fraud, and tax fraud.  Read more about our expertise in False Claims Act cases and how you can take action.