Whistleblower News From The Inside — March 17, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Alaska Senate passes Medicaid False Claims Act – The bill would punish fraudsters with treble damages, attorney’s fees, and penalties of between $5,500 and $11,000 per count; it is now up for vote in the Alaska House after unanimous consensus in the Senate. Alaska Journal

New regs Thursday: securities, whistleblowers, efficiency – The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Wednesday it was moving forward with new whistleblower protections, including “procedures and time frames for handling retaliation complaints” against companies. The Hill

Former Blue Cross employee charged with fraud – Frank John Leli, a 33-year-old ex-Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida business analyst, was arrested on charges of insurance fraud, grand theft, and an organized scheme to defraud after submitting hundreds of medical service claims for services that never occurred. Florida Times-Union

Missouri man sentenced to 15 months in prison for healthcare fraud – The man was accused of buying old prosthetic legs online, and reselling them to customers as if they were new. Medicare and Medicaid paid between $23,000 and $44,000 per leg.  St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Investigation underway in Winter Park foster care agency – A whistleblower tip kicked off a journalistic investigation to determine whether one of the largest foster care agencies in Florida over-billed Medicaid. WFTV 9 ABC Orlando

Centers to Treat Eating Disorders Are Growing, and Raising Concerns – The rapid growth of the private eating disorder industry, propelled in part by the Affordable Care Act, is raising concerns among some eating disorders experts, who worry that some programs may be taking advantage of vulnerable patients and their families. The New York Times