University of Maryland Shore Regional Health in Easton will pay $9.5 million to settle False Claims Act allegations, the whistleblower’s counsel said July 19.
A whistleblower filed suit against Shore Health in 2016, accusing the system of overbilling Medicare and Maryland Medicaid programs for services provided at nonhospital facilities between 2014 and 2018. In particular, the lawsuit accused Shore Health of billing Medicare for outpatient services furnished at nonhospital facilities as though they had been provided at one of its hospitals. This caused Medicare and Medicaid to pay a higher reimbursement rate for services, according to the news release.
The settlement resolves the allegations in the 2016 lawsuit. Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll represented the whistleblower.