Whistleblower Rewarded for Exposing Medicare Scam

July 13, 2016: Evercare Hospice and Palliative Care will pay $18 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it claimed Medicare reimbursement for hospice care for patients who were not eligible for such care because they were not terminally ill. Evercare, now known as Optum Palliative and Hospice Care, is a Minnesota-based provider of hospice care in Arizona, Colorado and other states across the United States.

The allegations resolved by this settlement arose from whistleblower lawsuits initially filed by former employees of Evercare under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private parties to bring suit on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery. The Act allows the United States to intervene in the lawsuits, which it did in this case. The share to be awarded in this case has not yet been determined.

Read the DOJ Press Release here.

Click here for Qui Tam Whistleblower Resources.