A Florida hospital group agreed to pay $69.5 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA).

The North Broward Hospital District, a special tax district that oversees hospitals and other health care facilities in the Broward County area, was accused of violating a law by paying nine doctors at a rate that was more than market value.

In settling the whistleblower lawsuit, the hospital district did not admit any wrongdoing. The doctor who who filed the qui tam lawsuit is due to receive about $12 million.

The head of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) civil division, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, said that the DOJ is concerned about improper financial relations between health care providers and their referral sources.

Those relationships, Mizer said, “can alter a physician’s judgment about the patient’s true health care needs and drive up health care costs for everybody.”

Though these issues are a concern for the DOJ, the hospital district’s chairman maintains that the whistleblower lawsuit centered on the district’s contracts with the doctors, and did not involve issues related to patient care.

While not admitting to wrongdoing, the settlement was reached because it allows the healthcare district to move forward, according to the group’s new president and CEO Dr. Nabil El Sanadi.

North Broward Hospital District treats more than 900,000 patients each year. It is comprised of five medical centers and hospitals, as well as four outpatient facilities and over 40 other health service locations.

An ongoing partnership between the DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services, known as the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team, works to reduce and prevent fraud related to Medicare and Medicaid services.

Including this whistleblower lawsuit, the DOJ has recovered more than $25 billion through various FCA qui tam lawsuits since January 2009. The majority of this money comes from FCA lawsuits involving fraud accusations over federal health care programs.

Whistleblower Lawsuits

Whistleblowers are individuals who report the fraud and illegal activities against the government of their employers. The whistleblower is typically given between 15 percent and 30 percent of the money recovered in a whistleblower lawsuit.

If you believe you have witnessed Medicare, Medicaid, or another kind of health care fraud by your employer, you may be able to file a whistleblower lawsuit (also known as a qui tam lawsuit).