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Government Decision

This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to the government decision to intervene in whistleblower litigation. You may also be interested in our pages:

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February Roundup – February 17-20, 2017

Constantine Cannon attorneys quoted in articles about the DOJ joining its whistleblower lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group:
  • UnitedHealth Filing Reflects DOJ’s Heightened Fraud Focus, Bloomberg BNA;
  • Whistleblower suit alleges UnitedHealth defrauded Medicare, StarTribune;
  • Justice Department joins Medicare Advantage fraud lawsuit against UnitedHealth, Modern Healthcare;
  • Feds Join FCA Suit Targeting UnitedHealth Billing, Law360;
  • United Healthcare Whistleblower Suit Provides ‘Interesting’ Investment Opportunity, The Street;
  • Lawsuit says UnitedHealth tied to scheme to overbill Medicare, MINNPOST;
  • DOJ joins whistle-blower suit accusing UnitedHealth of overbilling Medicare , Becker's Hospital Review;
  • Justice Department joins lawsuit against UnitedHealth over Medicare billing, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal;
  • UnitedHealth Lower Off NYT Article Claiming Suit For Overbilling Medicare, Benzinga;
  • UnitedHealth, Health Insurers Fall As DOJ Joins Whistleblower Suit, Investor's Business Daily;
  • Feds join whistleblower suit that accuses UnitedHealth of inflating Medicare Advantage risk scores, Fierce Healthcare;
  • United Health sinks after being sued by the US government (UNH), Business Insider;
  • Feds join whistleblower lawsuit claiming UnitedHealth overcharged Medicare, TwinCities (Pioneer Press);
  • UnitedHealth leads Dow losses after US joins whistleblower case, Financial Times;
  • UnitedHealth shares fall after Justice Department joins Medicare whistleblower lawsuit, CNBC ;
  •  UnitedHealth's Medicare business draws federal scrutiny, Minnesota Public Radio;
  • DOJ joins whistleblower lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group, WellMed, Healthcare Finance News;
  • Suit Says, Scheme Tied to UnitedHealth Overbilled Medicare for Years, Morning Outlook; and
  • UnitedHealth Group Targeted by Whistleblower Lawsuit, Hamodia.

United States Intervenes in Constantine Cannon Whistleblower’s suit against UnitedHealth Group, WellMed Medical Management

Posted  02/16/17
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team The U.S. Department of Justice has joined Constantine Cannon in bringing a whistleblower’s False Claims Act lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer and largest operator of Medicare managed healthcare insurance plans. The suit alleges UnitedHealth and its various subsidiaries and affiliates defrauded Medicare by improperly inflating its risk...

Forty-Two California Government Entities Join Whistleblower Suit Against Nation’s Largest Wireless Carriers

San Francisco, CA (December 8, 2015) – More than 40 California government entities have joined a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower against Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. The case, brought in Sacramento County Superior Court under the California False Claims Act, alleges that the wireless companies overcharged government customers by more than $100 million. The government intervenors and the whistleblower are represented by Constantine Cannon LLP. The action was unsealed by the Court on December 7, 2015. The wireless companies are alleged to have ignored two cost-saving requirements included in the master contracts under which California state and local government customers purchased wireless services.  Specifically, the master contracts required the carriers to determine and report to the government customers which rate plan selections would result in the lowest cost – referred to as “rate plan optimization” – and to provide wireless services at “the lowest available cost.” Rate plan optimization is a computerized service that analyzes individuals’ usage patterns quarterly and identifies the least expensive service or rate plan for each phone or user. Selecting the rate plan that best matches usage patterns reduces costs by 20-30% over the term of a contract.  Although the master contracts with the government required it, the wireless carriers did not prepare or provide rate plan optimization reports, the lawsuit alleges.  Further, as the carriers did not bill government customers utilizing the most cost effective rate plans, the defendants are also alleged to have failed to provide service at the “lowest available cost.”  The carriers’ failure to live up to their contractual promises, the lawsuit alleges, resulted in overcharges to the government of more than $100 million. “The carriers promised optimization in order to win these government contracts, which are worth billions of dollars,” said Anne Hayes Hartman, a partner at Constantine Cannon with extensive experience representing whistleblowers and government entities in False Claims Act cases. “But while they were happy to take the government’s money, the carriers simply ignored their commitments to bill using the lowest cost rate plans.  The carriers profited and taxpayers paid the price.” “We look forward to recovering the lost savings and securing ongoing contract compliance for the many government entities that were damaged,” said Wayne T. Lamprey, a partner at Constantine Cannon and former Assistant U.S. Attorney. The action was brought by OnTheGo Wireless, which has been one of the leading rate plan analysis firms in the country and a pioneer in the field of rate plan optimization. The case is State of California et al. ex rel. OntheGo Wireless, LLC v. Cellco Partnership et al., Case No. 34-2012-00127517 (Super. Ct. Cal., Sacramento County). Intervening Entities Regents of the University of California Los Angeles County Madera County Marin County Orange County Riverside County Sacramento County San Bernardino County Santa Cruz County Sonoma County Stanislaus County Yuba County City of Capitola City of Chino City of Corona City of Fortuna City of Long Beach City of Oxnard City of Rancho Cucamonga City of Ripon City of Riverside City of Sacramento City of San Bernardino City of San Mateo City of Santa Cruz City of Santa Rosa City of Vernon City of Victorville Grossmont Union High School District Irvine Unified School District Kaweah Delta Health Care District Kings Canyon Unified School District Olivenhain Municipal Water District Sonoma County Water Agency Rosemead School District Saddleback Valley Unified San Diego Unified School District Santa Cruz Public Libraries Torrance Unified School District Victor Valley Transit Authority Whittier Union High School District Woodbridge Fire District   About Constantine Cannon LLP Constantine Cannon, with offices in New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco and London, has deep expertise in practice areas that include antitrust and complex commercial litigation, whistleblower representation, government relations, securities and e-discovery. The firm’s antitrust practice is among the largest and most well recognized in the nation. Constantine Cannon’s experience spans across multiple industries including healthcare, banking, electronic payments, insurance, high tech, telecommunications, the Internet and government contracting. Constantine Cannon’s whistleblower lawyer practice represents whistleblowers under the False Claims Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and the various federal and state laws that encourage industry insiders to report evidence of fraud or misconduct. The firm was one of the first in the country to bring a claim under the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Constantine Cannon And Department of Justice Continue Joint Pursuit Against California Sleep-Clinic Chain

Posted  09/4/15
By Jessica T. Moore Constantine Cannon LLP has filed an amended complaint on behalf of a whistleblower alleging multi-faceted fraud on the part of Bay Sleep Clinic and its owners and operators, and billing company Access Medical Consultants.  The filing in United States ex rel. Dresser v. Qualium Corp., et al, Civil Action No. 12-1745 in the Northern District of California, comes on the same day the United...

November 13, 2014

California joined a whistle-blower lawsuit against BP alleging the company overcharged the state by as much as $300M for natural gas for almost a decade. The case was unsealed today in San Francisco state court. The state and two of its university systems are pursuing the case along with a whistleblower, former BP employee Christopher Schroen. Bloomberg

Justice Throwing Its Weight Behind Fraud Case Against Lance Armstrong

Posted  02/25/13
By Jason Enzler The Department of Justice announced in a press release late last Friday that it has elected to join a fraud lawsuit filed against the beleaguered former American-darling and cyclist Lance Armstrong.  The lawsuit, brought by another disgraced cyclist, former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis, essentially alleges that Armstrong and others ripped-off the government to the tune of $30 million when they...

February 22, 2013

Constantine Cannon partner Gordon Schnell quoted in the New York Times on the government's decision to intervene in the whistleblower lawsuit brought by Floyd Landis against Lance Armstrong for allegedly defrauding the United States Postal Service. Click here to read the article.