JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) – The federal government has reached settlements with four Florida hospitals in a lawsuit filed against them, along with an ambulance service, for false claims related to payments for ambulance services.
The lawsuit was originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division, in June 2011.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Jacksonville
However, it remain sealed until earlier this week.
In an order Tuesday, Judge Monte C. Richardson agreed to unseal the complaint, filed by Shawn Pelletier, an emergency medical technician for defendant Liberty Ambulance Service Inc. from 2007-09. The judge also agreed to unseal the amended complaint and the federal government’s notice to partially intervene.
Last week, the government said in its notice that it reached an “amicable resolution” in February and March with the four other defendants, Southern Baptist Hospital of Florida Inc., Memorial Medical Care Group Inc., Orange Park Medical Center Inc. and Shands Jacksonville Medical Center Inc.
However, it said it has been unable to reach a settlement with Liberty.
“The government hereby informs the court of its intention to formally intervene in the litigation with respect to that defendant,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Mehta wrote in the March 6 notice.
Pelletier, in his qui tam complaint, said he witnessed “on a daily basis” Liberty’s regular practice of falsifying Medicare-required documents and records with the purpose of billing Medicare or Medicaid for ambulance services that were never provided and were medically unnecessary.
“Mr. Pelletier has direct personal knowledge that Liberty Ambulance submits its false claims for payment to the United States, in that he has reviewed the Medicare or Medicaid billing statements of Liberty Ambulance at patient’s request,” lawyers for Pelletier wrote in the 15-page complaint.
“Mr. Pelletier’s experience has convinced him that Defendants’ fraud constitutes a widespread, systematic practice endemic to Defendants and causes him to file this complaint as an original-source relator under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.”
The federal law imposes liability on persons and companies who defraud governmental programs.
Under the law, any person having direct, personal knowledge about the violation of the act may bring an action on behalf of the government, including those who are not affiliated with the government. They are called “relators,” or more commonly referred to as “whistleblowers.”
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at [email protected].
