A Pennsylvania healthcare company has been ordered to pay almost $54 million to settle False Claims Act allegations in a recent healthcare fraud lawsuit.

Pennsylvania-based Genesis Healthcare Inc. is one of the largest U.S. providers of skilled nursing and rehab nursing services. It has been recently been ordered to pay the federal government $53.6 million to reconcile claims that Genesis and its subsidiaries provide medically unnecessary care as well as care that was “grossly substandard.”

Law360 reports that this healthcare fraud lawsuit settlement ends several federal lawsuits surrounding Genesis and other healthcare companies it has acquired. Seven named plaintiff whistleblowers will receive close to $9.7 million of the $54 million as part of the qui tam healthcare fraud lawsuit settlement.

It was alleged that Genesis and companies that it owns, including skilled nursing facilities, assisted ­living and senior homes, and rehabilitation therapy businesses, provided care that was to a large degree substandard. Genesis then allegedly billed the government for this and other medically unnecessary services.

Critics claim that Genesis billed Medicare and Medicaid for services not rendered, unnecessary services and substandard services and did this to boost profits and increase their bottom line.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General’s Special Agent in Charge, Steven J. Ryan told Law360 in a recent statement, “We will continue to crack down on medical providers who betray the public’s trust and the needs of vulnerable patients through fraudulent billing and irresponsible practices.”

Genesis denies the allegations in this healthcare fraud lawsuit but will agree to pay the $53.6 million settlement regardless to resolve the four sets of claims that are under the umbrella of this settlement.

The first set of allegations claims that Skilled Healthcare in Las Vegas billed Medicare for patients who they say were in hospice care, yet were not terminally ill. They also allegedly inappropriately billed for physician evaluation management services.

Additionally, it was alleged in this healthcare fraud lawsuit that the companies upped patients’ Resource Utilization Group level to gain more money from the government. This means that the skilled nursing facilities claimed that the patients needed more skilled therapy than was necessary, thereby getting paid more money that was needed.

Also, the Department of Justice claims that several of Genesis’ subsidiaries in Georgia sent false claims to Medicare Part B for unskilled or unnecessary services.

The last set of allegations claims that a Genesis subsidiary tried to bill Medicare and Medi-Cal for substandard services or worthless services.

The U.S. Attorney General for the Northern District of Georgia said regarding this healthcare fraud lawsuit, “Health care providers that falsify claims for unauthorized or unnecessary services steal precious taxpayer dollars, and we will aggressively seek to recover those funds for the program that needs them.”

These Healthcare Fraud Lawsuits are Cretney­-Tsosie, et al. v. Creekside Hospice II LLC, case number 2:13­-cv-­00167, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada; McAree v. SunDance Rehabilitation Corp., case number 1:12-­cv-­04244, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia; West v. Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. et al., case number 3:11-­cv-­02658, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California; Deaton v. Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. et al., case number 4:14-­cv-­00219, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri; and Wilson v. Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. et al., case number 4:14­-cv-­00860, also in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

A whistleblower lawsuit that succeeds in recovering money for the government will also provide a reward for the claimant. In cases where the government intervenes, the claimant usually gets between 15 and 25 percent of the amount recovered, plus legal fees and other expenses related to the action.

Though each case is unique, the prospect of an award for the claimant plus whistleblower protection can make filing a whistleblower lawsuit worthwhile. One study published in the Boston University Law Journal weighed the pros and cons of being a whistleblower and concluded that in many cases the reward a claimant stands to gain outweighs disincentives like the risk of whistleblower retaliation.