(LEGAFI) -- A whistleblower lawsuit against Halifax Health for alleged Medicare fraud and kickbacks took a step forward last week after a U.S. district court judge denied the hospital’s motion to dismiss the case.

The Halifax Health whistleblower lawsuit, brought in 2009 by Halifax director of physician services Elin Baklid-Kunz, claims the hospital overbilled Medicare by tens of millions of dollars each year for “many years” by inappropriately admitting patients. Baklid-Kunz also alleged in the lawsuit that Halifax had illegal financial relationships with doctors in violation of federal anti-kickback laws.
 
U.S. District Court Judge Gregory A. Presnell found Halifax failed to prove the allegations weren’t specific enough in its motion to dismiss the whistleblower lawsuit. The judge also found the motion failed to prove that Halifax, which is supported by property taxes, is immune from the lawsuit be3cause it is part of the state.

Halifax has been cooperating with a federal probe into its billing practices after the government filed a statement of interest April 5 in response to Halifax’s motion to dismiss.

Under qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, Baklid-Kunz could be awarded 15 to 25 percent of the amount the government recovers, which could be millions, if her allegations are found to be true. These provisions are designed to encourage individuals to alert the government about Medicare fraud and other false claims that defraud the government out of money.