Georgia joins federal whistleblower lawsuit alleging Medicaid… | www.myajc.com

Georgia this week joined a federal whistle-blower lawsuit alleging two hospital chains illegally used kickbacks to recruit pregnant women to give birth in their delivery rooms at taxpayer expense.

As first reported by WSB-TV Wednesday, the complaint accuses Health Management Associates Inc. and Tenet Healthcare Corp. of submitting tens of thousands of Georgia Medicaid claims that were ineligible because of the alleged kickbacks. The lawsuit was unsealed Wednesday in a federal court in Athens.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money is at stake, said Marlan Wilbanks, an attorney representing the federal whistle-blower in the case. Georgia joined the lawsuit seeking to recover Medicaid money.

HMA declined to comment. Tenet released a statement Wednesday saying the hospital-clinic agreements that are the focus of the lawsuit “were appropriate and provided substantial benefit to women in underserved Hispanic communities served by those hospitals.”

“The services provided under these agreements included translation, determination of Medicaid eligibility, and other services designed to improve the delivery of obstetric care and increase the likelihood of a safe birth and a healthy baby,” Tenet said. “These services are important to addressing the healthcare gaps that affect many Hispanic patients and other minority communities.”

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