The United States has intervened against defendants in two whistleblower lawsuits alleging Evercare Hospice and Palliative Care (Evercare) submitted false claims for the Medicare hospice benefit. Evercare is now known as Optum Palliative and Hospice Care, which provides hospice services across the United States. One of the suits names Evercare’s parent companies, including UnitedHealth Group Inc.
The lawsuits, filed by former employees of Evercare, allege that defendants violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting false claims for hospice benefits for patients who did not have a life expectancy of six months or less. The complaints include allegations that management pressured employees and physicians to admit and retain patients who were not terminally ill and challenged or disregarded physicians’ decisions that patients should be discharged.
The Medicare hospice benefit is available for patients who elect palliative care (medical care focused on providing patients with relief from pain, symptoms or stress) for a terminal illness, and have a life expectancy of six months or less if their illness runs its normal course. When a Medicare patient is admitted to hospice, that individual is no longer entitled to Medicare coverage for care designed to cure his or her illness.
The lawsuits were filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private parties to sue on behalf of the United States for the submission of false claims to the government. The private plaintiffs are entitled to receive a share of any funds recovered through the lawsuit. The False Claims Act authorizes the United States to intervene in a whistleblower lawsuit and take over primary responsibility for litigating it as the United States has done here, and permits the government to recover three times its damages plus civil penalties. The United States has notified the court that it intends to file its own complaint.
The government’s intervention in these actions is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and another step for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $22.4 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $14.2 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
Jeff Newman represents whistleblowers
