CareAll Management LLC, a Tennessee-based agency that provides in-home health care services, must pay $25 million to settle a whistleblower suit. The agency came to an agreement with the United States Department of Justice and the Tennessee Office of the Attorney General and Reporter. As a part of the settlement, CareAll must abide by strict terms of a corporate integrity agreement that will be enforced by the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of the Inspector General.
The lawsuit was brought by registered nurse Toney Gonzales, who acted as the whistleblower in the case. From June 2011 to January 2012 he worked as the Director of Services for the Knoxville office of CareAll. In a report to authorities, he revealed that the organization was consistently engaged in fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid billing. He also alleged that the organization was providing in-home services to patients that were not actually homebound, and therefore that the services they were providing were not actually necessary.
As a part of the $25 million settlement, Mr. Gonzales will receive $3.9 million for his role as a whistleblower. The lawsuit was originally filed in early 2012, just three months after Gonzales left his position. CareAll will now be under close supervision by Health and Human Services, and future compliance failures or fraud instances could result in more severe sanctions.
If you are aware of any wrongdoing happening within your organization, you have the ability to report it without fear of retaliation. Contact the Dallas attorneys at Whistleblower Law for Managers today.
