Delaware hospital system will pay $47 million to settle whistleblower allegations of billing fraud

By RANDALL CHASE
Associated Press

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware’s largest hospital system will pay more than $47 million to settle whistleblower allegations by its former compliance officer that it provided kickbacks to outside doctors in return for patient referrals, resulting in fraudulent Medicaid billing. The settlement announced Friday comes nearly seven years after Ronald Sherman filed his whistleblower lawsuit against Christiana Care Health System. The lawsuit alleged that Christiana Care employees treated patients referred by outside physicians at no cost or below fair market value. Those physicians then billed insurers, primarily Medicaid, for care that was actually provided by Christiana employees. The lawsuit says that in exchange for the unearned billings, the doctors continued to funnel patients to Christiana Care.