A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Community Health Systems Professional Services Corporation (CHSPSC) and three affiliated New Mexico hospitals (collectively Community Health Systems-CHS) who are accused of making illegal donations to county governments which were used to fund the state share of Medicaid payments to the hospitals.
The whistleblower will receive a $18,671,561 share of the government’s $75 settlement amount.
Filed in March 2005, the whistleblower case alleged that from August 1, 2000, through December 31, 2010, CHS knowingly caused the state of New Mexico to present false claims to the United States for payments made to CHS under New Mexico's Sole Community Provider program by making improper donations to Chaves, Luna and San Miguel counties, which were then used by the counties, and subsequently the state, to obtain federal matching payments. The government alleged that CHS concealed the true nature of these donations to avoid detection by federal and state authorities, and as a result of its scheme, received SCP payments which were funded by the United States in the amount of three times CHS’ “donations.”
