Citizen whistleblowers receive $1.7 million of Medicare fraud settlement
December 23, 9:51 AMDid you know that whistleblowers can be rewarded for taking action against companies defrauding the U.S. Government in programs such as Medicare?
The four citizens who filed lawsuits against a corporation that was defrauding Medicare will divide $1.7 million under provisions of the False Claim Act, which permits private parties to file an action on behalf of the government.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on December 23, 2009 that Visiting Physicians Association will pay $9.5 Million, to resolve False Claims Act Allegations, to the United States and the state of Michigan to settle allegations that the association violated Act by submitting false claims to Medicare, TRICARE and the Michigan Medicaid program.
The provision in the False Claims Act permits private parties to file an action on the government’s behalf and share in the recovery. In this case, it means that four people will share $1.7 million, which comes to $425,000 for each one
The False Claims Act contains qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions. Qui tam is a unique mechanism in the law that allows citizens with evidence of fraud against government contracts and programs to sue, on behalf of the government, in order to recover the stolen funds. In compensation for the risk and effort of filing a qui tam case, the citizen whistleblower or "relator" may be awarded a portion of the funds recovered, typically between 15 and 25 percent.
Taxpayers Against Fraud provides more information about how citizens can participate in exposing and recovering the billions of dollars stolen through fraud by U.S. government contractors every year and sharing in the monetary penalties and settlements obtained from those found guilty.
Source:
Department of Justice
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