Thursday, August 28, 2008

Amerigroup Pays $225M to Settle Allegations

Almost 6 years after a former vice president of government relations for Amerigroup filed a whistleblower lawsuit, the company will now pay $225 million in a settlement. The lawsuit claimed the company “cherry-picked” the healthiest patients to reduce spending. Authorities said Amerigroup’s health plan denied coverage to pregnant women and people with health ailments. Amerigroup agreed to the settlement to reduce their current financial uncertainty.

Click here to read the full article, Amerigroup will pay $225M to settle allegations that it denied coverage to pregnant, sick Illinois Medicaid beneficiaries.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

UC Whistleblower Suit Protection Act Draws Criticism

After a recent ruling for University of California - in which whistleblowers cannot seek damages in court if the university properly investigated their claim - employees and lawmakers are working to overturn it. Many critics claim that the act “will act powerfully to defeat the purposes of the Whistleblower Protection Act”, and that university employees should have the same whistleblower rights as other state workers. Although the ruling appears to protect UC, employees fear the university is not taking their complaints seriously and fear retaliation against criticism.

Click here to the read the entire article; UC whistle-blower suit shield draws fire.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

$4 Million Paid to US Gov. for Allegedly Untested Aircraft Parts

A settlement has been reached between General Dynamics Corp. and the U.S. government after the company allegedly sold defectively manufactured and untested parts to be used in various Navy and Air Force aircraft. The $4.06 million payment will be made while General Dynamics neither admits nor deny any wrongdoing by. The government’s claim began from an investigation that started with the filing of a qui tam lawsuit by a former employee.

Click here to read the full story, General Dynamics, Unit To Pay $4 Million To Settle Suit.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Whistleblower Incentives Catch On In Other Countries

The US government’s new program of offering whistleblowers a percentage of funds recovered in tax evasion and fraud cases may be having an impact on the way other countries recover similar information. The German government paid about $4 million to a whistleblower, a former employee of one of Lichtenstein’s banks after recovering $110 million as a result from the inside information. New proposals in Britain to pay whistleblowers have met some controversy with opponents saying the payment would encourage snooping and snitching. However, the motivation of financial incentives seems to be too great to ignore.

Click here to read more about corporation tax cheats and whistleblower payouts.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Medicare Scam Costs Kyphon $75 Million

A whistleblower was the catalyst to a $75 million settlement paid by Kyphon, the manufacturer of a medical device that repairs fractures in the bones of people with osteoporosis. According to the former salesperson, the procedure using the device was quick enough to be billed as an outpatient service, costing Medicare only $1,000. However, the sales team was told to sell the procedure as an inpatient service, costing Medicare $10,000 per procedure. Kyphon admitted no wrongdoing.

Click here to read the full article on the Kyphon Medicare Scam.

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