Home Health & Hospice Week

Expect whistleblower complaints to continue to proliferate.

“Settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $2.2 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2022,” says Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, in a release. Over $1.7 billion of that is related to health care. “The large number of settlements and judgments this past year demonstrates that the False Claims Act remains one of the most important tools for ensuring that public funds are spent properly and advance the public interest,” Boynton says.

The government and whistleblowers were party to 351 settlements and judgments, the second-highest number of settlements and judgments in a single year, the Department of Justice points out. “Recoveries since 1986, when Congress substantially strengthened the civil False Claims Act, now total more than $72 billion,” the DOJ crows.

Whistleblowers filed 652 qui tam suits in FY 2022. Relators typically receive a portion of the recovery ranging between 15 percent and 30 percent, the DOJ notes.

The settlements included home health and hospice providers, the DOJ highlights. And it lists the specific case of Louisville, Kentucky-based SignatureHomeNow, which paid $2.1 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false home health claims for beneficiaries who were not homebound; did not require certain skilled care; did not have a valid plan of care in place; and/or did not have appropriate face-to-face encounters.