- One whistleblower suit against Health Management Associates Inc. recently unsealed in federal court alleges that HMA changed the US government out of $100 million-$150 million by submitting false claims to Medicare and Medicaid and improperly paying doctors, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
- The allegations were made against HMA in 2011 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida by the former CEO of Charlotte Regional Medical Center, Bradley Nurkin.
- The Nurkin lawsuit is one of at least eight whistleblower lawsuits facing Naples, Fla.-based HMA. HMA has said it will contest all of the allegations and seek dismissal of the complaints.
Dive Insight:
As we've noted before, HMA is in the midst of being acquired by Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, and doubtless doesn't want to draw unneeded negative attention to itself during this process. However, with four false claims suits being brought by individuals and four by the federal government it seems the acquisition will inevitably be overshadowed by legal activity of this kind. To be fair, nearly any hospital chain the size of HMA will attract false claims accusations, simply due to the scale of their operations, but rightly or wrongly, it's a shame for HMA that they have to deal with this at this point.