Authored by: Ollie Lammers
According to The National Law Review, the U.S. Department of Justice recently settled a case against the owners of an anesthesia services company. The company, Care Plus Management LLC (Care Plus), was involved in a scheme with outpatient surgery centers in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina.
Care Plus would pay kickbacks to surgeons for choosing their products over other companies. Surgeons would receive partial ownership of the company and its subsidiary anesthesia companies if they agreed only to utilize Care Plus products.
The anesthesia company would secure exclusive contracts with outpatient surgery centers due to paying off surgeons for utilizing their products
Care Plus and its entities were also submitting false claims to state and federal healthcare programs.
A former high-level executive at the company was the whistleblower in this case and reported the alleged kickback scheme. The government was able to sue Care Plus and its entities for allegedly paying off surgeons.
The alleged kickback program violates many state and federal laws, including the federal False Claims Act, Georgia State False Medicaid Claims Act, Florida False Claims Act, etc.
The U.S. Department of Justice will receive $7.2 million from Care Plus and its entities. The unnamed whistleblower, in this case, will receive $3.1 million of the government's recovery.
For more information on this case, click here to be taken to The National Law Review article.