In the past few months, federal prosecutors in California have brought multiple indictments under the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA) charging the owners of substance abuse treatment facilities and their...more
Designed for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, this newsletter seeks to bring you up to speed on key federal and state False Claims Act (FCA) developments, with links to primary resources. Each quarter, we...more
Healthcare fraud enforcement continues to be a top priority for federal authorities, with Stark Law violations remaining under particular scrutiny. The complex nature of physician self-referral regulations, combined with...more
On Dec. 11, 2024, the OIG issued a Special Fraud Alert (Alert) related to certain fraud and abuse risks associated with marketing arrangements between Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) and health care professionals...more
Whistleblower Watch is a comprehensive source for all False Claims Act (FCA) news and information. Every quarter, Cozen O’Connor will provide in-house counsel and compliance professionals with a summary of the most notable...more
A recent settlement involving a Medicare Advantage plan should serve as a reminder that the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) is broad and far-reaching, both on its face and in practice. On July 1, 2022, the U.S. Department...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Flower Mound Hospital Partners LLC, a partially physician-owned hospital in Flower Mound, Texas, agreed to pay $18.2 million to settle its alleged violations of the False...more
On October 4, 2019, the DOJ announced a $6.65 million settlement with a Southern California ophthalmology group, its former CEO, and several physicians, to resolve False Claims Act (FCA) allegations related to fraudulent...more
The Department of Justice announced on June 27, 2019 that David Brock Lovelace, the owner of DBL Management LLC, was found guilty by a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida of conspiracy...more
The Justice Department’s commitment – resources and public statements – has continued at a steady pace in the Trump Administration. Some might diminish the effort by recognizing that fraud is so pervasive that it is like...more
Despite the controversial impact of the Supreme Court’s Escobar decision, the Justice Department’s False Claims Act prosecutions and settlements are continuing at a consistent rate – heading towards another multi-billion...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced two significant False Claims Act (FCA) settlements in recent days that signal continued close government scrutiny of billing, coding and referral practices at hospitals....more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) reports that, in fiscal year 2016 ending September 30, it obtained more than $4.7 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims. More than half of this...more
The United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Middle District of Florida (USAO-MDFL) prosecuted several civil health care fraud matters in 2016 and issued related press releases. A review of the USAO-MDFL’s criminal and...more
On December 1, 2016, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced the indictment of 21 executives, physicians, surgeons, and others affiliated with Forest Park Medical Center (FPMC) in...more
In a recent case Hebrew Homes Health Network, Inc. and its former president and executive Director agreed to pay $17 million to settle allegations that Hebrew Homes violated the federal anti-kickback statute. According to the...more
On June 9, 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General issued a new Fraud Alert entitled "Physician Compensation Arrangements May Result in Significant Liability" (Alert) in the wake of 12...more
Hailed as “another achievement” for the government’s Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (referred to as “HEAT”), the U.S. Department of Justice has announced that a Florida skilled nursing company and...more