Whistleblower News From The Inside -- August 24, 2017

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Baltimore healthcare provider settles FCA suit for $122K – Baltimore-based St. Agnes Healthcare settled allegations it billed Medicare for evaluation and management (E&M) services at a reimbursement rate for new patients instead of at the rate for established patients. Medicare rules allow higher payments for E&M services provided to new patients. The cardiologist-turned-whistleblower who brought the case will receive a $20K award. USAO Maryland

Economic consultant settles Vermont FCA case – MIT professor Jonathan Gruber, who contracted to conduct economic modeling for Vermont’s proposed single-payer insurance system, settled allegations he exaggerated the hours he worked on the project. Gruber will not pay Vermont any money, instead the state has been released from paying $90K it ostensibly owed Gruber under the contract. Burlington Free Press

Whistleblower claims food fraud at Georgia jail – An employee at Georgia’s Fulton County Jail claims the jail’s cafeteria contractor, Aramark, improperly used inmate labor to prepare food in violation of its multi-million dollar contract. Fulton County inmates are prohibited from handling food except as part of a special culinary arts program. WSB-TV Atlanta