St. Helena Hospital Settles False Medicare Claims for $2.25M; Whistleblower to Get $450K

St. Helena Hospital has agreed to pay $2.25 million to settle allegations that the hospital knowingly submitted or caused the submission of false claims to the Medicare health care program, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced last week.

The settlement resolves allegations that St. Helena Hospital knowingly charged Medicare for medically unnecessary percutaneous coronary interventions. Percutaneous coronary intervention, commonly referred to as angioplasty, is a procedure to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels that supply blood to the heart. The United States also alleged that St. Helena Hospital unnecessarily admitted angioplasty patients who should have been treated on a less costly, outpatient basis.

This settlement resolves a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by Kacie Carroll, a former employee of St. Helena Hospital, under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private citizens to bring lawsuits on behalf of the United States and obtain a portion of the government’s recovery. Carroll will receive $450,000.

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.