False Claims Act Update & Alert
	Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund | Washington, D.C. | WWW.TAF.ORG           December 5 2008
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		Subscribe to this FREE Newsletter Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz n TAF Home Page n Previous Newsletters n Email editor   Please take a moment to forward this FREE electronic newsletter to others that might be interested!	MedQuist to Pay $6.6 Million MedQuist Inc., a medical transcription service provider, has agreed to pay the United States Government $6.6 million to resolve charges it overbilled the Veterans Administration, the Department of Defense, and the Public Health Service. >> To read more
			$11 Million for Mortgage Fraud A Canadian bank holding company agreed to pay the United States nearly $11 million because of a mortgage-fraud ring operating at a subsidiary in Rockford, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today.  >> To read more
			Condell to Pay $36 Million Condell Medical Center, a hospital in Libertyville, IL, has agreed to pay $36 million to head off a potential federal lawsuit related to kickbacks.  The kickbacks to doctors came in the form of leases of medical office space at rates below fair market value; improper loans to physicians; and improper hospital reimbursements.  Condell's self-admitting violations were triggered by the sale of the hospital to  Advocate Health Care.  >> To read more
			TN Hospitals Pay $5.9 Million Jackson-Madison County General Hospital and Milan General Hospital will pay the U.S. Government a combined total of $5.9 million to resolve charges they submitted Medicare false claims for non-emergency transportation and various psychiatric services. >> To read more
			Jaw Dropping "Error" Rates In a recent report to Congress, HHS notes that "error rate" for Durable Medical Equipment was 28.9 percent, while 60 percent of claims for Facet Joint Injection Services were overpaid because doctors added additional billing codes.  Improper DSH payments are no small matter either: Just three psychiatric hospitals received $142 million they ineligible for.
			Investigating IT Price-Gouging In the last year, four large computer firms have walked away from contract talks with the General Services Administration or had their contracts canceled. Three of the companies, Sun Microsystems, EMC and Cisco, are under investigation by the U.S. Government for deceptive pricing in previous contracts.  >> To read more
			Rumors of UBS Tax Settlement UBS AG is rumored to be close to an agreement on tax evasion charges with the U.S. Department of Justice. Analysts from Morgan Stanley estimate the company may have to pay over $826 million in settlements and fines, which follows massive client withdrawals after $46 billion in write-downs on illiquid securities. >> To read more
			The High Cost of Free Samples A paper in the September issue of the Southern Medical Journal says that doctors are three times more likely to prescribe less-expensive generics to uninsured patients after they lose their samples closets. >> To read more
			Seeking Doctor Relators AMA News notes that physicians are seldom named in false claims cases, but are often in a position to blow the whistle on fraud they observe.  And the good news is that more states are initiating cases now that 22 states have passed their own False Claims Act laws. >> To read more