On June 29, 2016, the United States Department of Justice confirmed that effective August 1, 2016, for False Claims Act violations after November 2, 2015, minimum per-claim penalties will increase from $5,500.00 to $10,781.00 and maximum per-claim penalties will increase from $11,000.00 to $21,563.00. That poses greater risks for hospitals and doctors who perpetrate of Medicare, Medicaid and/or other billing fraud – and correspondingly greater rewards for “whistleblowers” – since “whistleblower” and other prosecution cases frequently involve hundreds if not thousands of alleged claims, with each triggering separate penalties.
Also on June 29, 2016, Cardiovascular Services, Inc. agreed in Federal Court to pay $8,000,000.00 in settlement of a former employee’s whistleblower False Claims Act lawsuit. The defendant healthcare device maker/seller allegedly provided kickbacks to doctors who billed government healthcare programs for using its devices.
