Frohsin Barger & Walthall is proud to announce that our firm helped recover over $76 million for our clients and the taxpayers of the United States in 2017.  This yearly total brings Frohsin Barger & Walthall’s total recoveries to over $350 million since the firm’s inception in 2008.  The largest recovery in 2017 was a $75 million False Claims Act settlement involving Vitas hospice.  This record-setting settlement is the largest hospice fraud settlement in United States history – surpassing Frohsin Barger & Walthall’s own previous record – a $25 million hospice fraud settlement involving SouthernCare in 2009.  For a detailed review of hospice fraud under the False Claims Act, and these settlements, read Frohsin Barger & Walthall founding partner Jim Barger’s seminal hospice fraud law review article published in the Georgetown University American Criminal Law Review. 

The United States of America v. Vitas Settlement

On October 31, 2017, the Department of Justice announced that Chemed Corporation and its subsidiaries Vitas Hospice Services LLC and Vitas Healthcare Corporation agreed to pay $75 million to resolve allegations, brought in part by Frohsin Barger & Walthall clients, that defendants violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for hospice services to Medicare.  Specifically, the settlement resolved allegations that between 2002 and 2013 Vitas knowingly submitted or caused to be submitted false claims to Medicare for services to hospice patients who were not terminally ill.  The settlement also resolved allegations that between 2002 and 2013, Vitas knowingly submitted or caused to be submitted false claims to Medicare for continuous home care services that were not necessary, not actually provided, or not performed in accordance with Medicare requirements.  For more information on the Vitas Settlement, click here.

Other Frohsin Barger & Walthall Settlements in 2017

In addition to this record-setting settlement, Frohsin Barger & Walthall made multiple other recoveries in False Claims Act cases in 2017, including a $900,000 recovery involving now-defunct, Georgia-based, hospice company Angels of Hope, LLC.  This initial recovery signals a major victory in this long-running case, which has included the Defendant Angels of Hope, LLC filing bankruptcy.

Confidential Settlements in 2017

In 2017, Frohsin Barger & Walthall also successfully resolved confidential settlements on behalf of our clients and the United States.  In one confidential False Claims Act settlement, Frohsin Barger & Walthall recovered nearly $400,000 for our client and the United States.

Another Successful Year in False Claims Act Recoveries

This past year, 2017, marks another successful year in deterring fraud and abuse against our nation’s most important government programs.  Frohsin Barger & Walthall would like to thank our partners in the fight against fraud and abuse, including our colleagues at the Department of Justice, the dedicated investigators at federal agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, our co-counsel and affiliated attorneys, and the brave whistleblowers who come forward to expose fraud against our nation’s taxpayers.  Due to the efforts of those brave, talented and hardworking partners, 2017 was another successful year in the history of the False Claims Act.

For more information about the False Claims Act and how whistleblowers can be rewarded for exposing fraud against the government, click here.