From our offices in the Detroit area, Akeel & Valentine, PLC serves clients nationwide.

From our offices in the Detroit area, Akeel & Valentine, PLC serves clients nationwide.

Can qui tam fight healthcare fraud cases?

On Behalf of | Oct 12, 2022 | Qui Tam

Qui tam is a useful tool that allows anyone to file a case as a whistleblower on behalf of the government. They can then receive a portion of the damages awarded for their actions.

But can qui tam fight issues like healthcare fraud?

Uncovering injustice in hospitals

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, qui tam helps the government find issues they may have otherwise remained unaware of. For example, one qui tam case involved Ascension Michigan and other hospitals. The accusation these hospitals faced included submitting false claims into health care programs on the federal level, thus proving the involvement of the government. The hospitals had to pay $2.8 million for the crime.

How qui tam helps

Thus, qui tam does have the benefit of helping to fight healthcare fraud. Because of the whistleblower in the aforementioned case, the government could go after medical facilities that let their doctors make claims on procedures that did not happen at all or that were not necessary. This is taxpayer money due to the involvement of federally-funded health insurers.

The qui tam helped the government to recover some of the money lost to this case, which will then go back into the system and into programs that help those who actually need the aid.

Qui tam allows citizens to help the government, which keeps programs open and keeps costs from ballooning. Thus, it is a beneficial tool not only to the government itself but also to the people, as it can bring back money lost in fraud cases.