The United States government is poised to intervene in a whistleblower lawsuit that has been brought against one of America’s largest nursing home chains, HCR ManorCare. The lawsuit against HCR ManorCare alleges that the company engages in systematic Medicare overbilling, and even worse, pressures administrators to provide inappropriate services to nursing home residents in order to increase profitability.
The lawsuit started in 2009 with a whistleblower lawsuit that was filed by an occupational therapist from northern Virginia. The lawsuit was originally filed under the False Claims Act, which enables private citizens to bring lawsuits on behalf of the United States if they have evidence that tends to show that the government is being defrauded. When claims of this nature are filed, the United States has a choice of whether to investigate them. After the government conducts an investigation, it must decide whether it wants to take over the lawsuit. If the United States chooses to intervene in a case, the whistleblower can collect a percentage of any money that is recovered, but that percentage is slightly less than they would receive if they pursued the matter to completion on their own.
ManorCare denies that there has been any wrongdoing on its part, even after the government’s investigation of the company uncovered a great deal of damaging information. Some of the damaging information is related to the treatment of specific residents, such as the medically fragile eighty five year old man who was supposed to be placed in hospice care but who was instead subjected to a hundred days of rehabilitative therapy, which can be billed at a higher rate, before being placed into hospice care.
When a company is defrauding the government, they expect their employees to cooperate fully with their scheme. This expectation defies the moral sensibilities of many employees, yet some feel powerless to do anything about it, especially in today’s challenging job market. Some employees do take a stand for what is right by taking action to expose the wrongdoing. Whistleblower lawsuits take a lot of time and energy, but they are well worth it when injustices are exposed and companies who have been breaking the rules are held responsible for their actions. Some whistleblowers remain as plaintiffs in their lawsuits until the very end. The United States intervenes in other lawsuits. In either case, the whistleblower receives a portion of any funds that are recovered.
If you are aware of wrongdoing on the part of a corporation or other business entity, the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC would like to assist you. Our attorneys understand that whistleblower lawsuits can be complicated, and we are here to guide you through the complexities of your whistleblower lawsuit, towards a result which exposes the wrong actions of a business that is not playing fair. If you have questions about whistleblower lawsuits, please call the experienced whistleblower attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (800) 707-9577 to schedule your free, initial consultation.