6th Circuit:  Public Disclosure Bar Fatal To Nursing Home’s Alleged Hospice Fraud

Mealey's (June 8, 2020, 1:34 PM EDT) -- CINCINNATI — The dismissal of a woman’s qui tam lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act (FCA) that accused a nursing home of fraudulently billing Medicare and Medicaid for hospice care for patients who were improperly categorized as terminally ill was affirmed by a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 3 after the panel found that the woman’s allegations were precluded by pre- and post-amendments to the statute’s public disclosure bar (United States, ex rel. Kathi Holloway v. Heartland Hospice Inc., et al., No. 19-3646, 6th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 17529)....