Largest Ever Settlement for Patient Privacy Violation Under HIPAA Another Settlement Expected Soon Failure to securely dispose of items containing protected patient information cost two of the nation’s three largest retail pharmacy chains a total of $2.25 Million and $1 Million to settle alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 […]
The following is a portion of comments posted on The White House Blog by Katelyn Sabochik, on July 22, 2010: “This morning, President Obama signed the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act, a bill – passed unanimously by both the House and Senate – designed to cut waste, fraud and abuse due to improper payments […]
Fully Endorses Contingency Fees for Auditors Video and Transcript Posted by The White House President Obama signed into law today measures that hold government accountable for responsible use of taxpayer dollars and are intended to cut down on waste, fraud and abuse. The President also remarked that he has directed federal agencies to perform rigorous […]
Documents related to this case: CHARGES FILED AGAINST WELLCARE HEALTH PLANS, INC.; WELLCARE ENTERS INTO DEFERRED PROSECUTION AGREEMENT AGREES TO PAY $80 MILLION IN RESTITUTION AND FORFEITURE — DOJ, Middle District of Florida, May 5, 2009. SEC v. WellCare, Judgement for $10 million in US District Court — June 1, 2009. Whistleblower FCA Complaint, filed […]
Whistleblower Says Penalties Could Surpass $1 Billion WellCare Health Plans, a Tampa-based HMO, filed a report of a Preliminary Settlement reached with the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, plus the Civil Divisions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, and for the State of Connecticut, to settle their […]
DOJ/HHS Joint Press Conference, July 19, Miami, Florida: Medicare fraud strike force arrests 94 Video Posted by Miami Herald Federal agents arrested 94 individuals, including doctors, health care owners, and executives in a nation-wide crackdown on fraudulent medicare billing, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today in […]
The hospital industry, through CMS, is now providing even more statistical data on quality measures for consumers much like other competitive industries. Consumers will now be “better equiped” to choose between healthcare providers based on the data reported to CMS, according to a CMS News Release on July 7, 2010. A video of the original […]
[The following is the complete text from a CMS News Release, July 7, 2010.] IMPORTANT NEW DATA ADDED TO HEALTHCARE.GOV TO HELP AMERICANS UNDERSTAND THE STATE OF QUALITY AT AMERICA’S HOSPITALS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Hospital Compare Tool Compares Outpatient Care and Inpatient Mortality and Readmissions at More Than 4,700 Hospitals Across […]
CMS Announces Final Rules To Support ‘Meaningful Use’ of Electronic Health Records “Identification of the “meaningful use” goals and standards is the keystone to successful national adoption of EHRs. The announcement of final “meaningful use” regulations on July 13, 2010, marks the launch of the Nation’s push for EHR adoption and use.” — “EHR At […]