A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and CHRISTUS Health.
The allegations arose from a lawsuit that claimed CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and CHRISTUS Health violated the False Claims Act by making illegal donations to county governments, which were used to fund the state share of Medicaid payments to the hospital.
According to the government, CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and CHRISTUS Health allegedly made illegal payments in 2001-2009 to county governments that were used to pay for New Mexico's portion of Medicaid payments to Christus.
Under New Mexico's Sole Community Provider program, supplemental Medicaid funds were provided to rural hospitals. The federal government reimbursed New Mexico for about 75 percent of its payments under the SCP program, while New Mexico's 25 percent "matching" share of payments had to come from state or county funds. This excluded donations from private hospitals. The program ended in 2014.
“Protecting the integrity of the Medicaid program is crucial because millions of Americans, including hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans, depend on the program for medical care and related services,” said Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney for the District of New Mexico. “This case illustrates our commitment to ensuring that government funds are legally obtained and used for their intended purposes. We will use all available civil remedies to recover the ill-gotten gains obtained by those who defraud government health care programs.”
Reportedly, this settlement resolves allegations originally brought in a lawsuit filed by a former Los Alamos County, New Mexico Indigent Healthcare Administrator.
The whistleblowers' share of the settlement will be $2.249 million.
