Two St. Louis-based hospital systems have agreed to shell out more than $2.2 million to quiet allegations that they submitted false Medicare claims for routine foot care procedures. Under the terms of the settlement, St. John’s Mercy Health System and St. John’s Health System have agreed to close the foot clinics and to pay the United States $2.2 million to resolve claims that six system hospitals violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims to Medicare for routine foot care that were not covered by Medicare. Notably, this was a government-initiated False Claims Act case.

While the government was able to piece together this case without the assistance of a whistleblower, the vast majority of False Claims Act recoveries originate from a qui tam action. Indeed, according to recent US Justice Department statistics, nearly 80% of all recoveries in the past year were from qui tam lawsuits.

For more information about qui tam law and Medicare fraud, contact Nolan and Auerbach, P.A.