AMBULANCE COMPANY TO PAY $5.4 MILLION TO SETTLE WHISTLEBLOWER MEDICARE FRAUD CASE

A former EMT for the Rural/Metro, Warburg Pincus medical transport company will receive over one million dollars of a 5.4 million dollar settlement in a whistleblower action. The case alleges the company made a regular practice of falsifying Medicare documents and billing Medicare for ambulance services that were never provided and also were not medically necessary. Rural/Metro is a national for profit medical transportation provider headquartered in Scottsdale Arizona. Previously a publicly traded company, Rural Metro was acquired in June 2011 by the private equity firm of Warburg Pincus.