(LEGAFI) -- Medical equipment supplier Hill-Rom has agreed to pay $41.8 million to settle a Medicare fraud lawsuit brought by two Tennessee whistleblowers in April 2005. The whistleblower settlement is largest civil fraud recovery ever made by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee. 

The Hill-Rom whistleblower lawsuit was filed by two employees who alleged the company knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare from 1999 to 2007 for bed support surfaces for the treatment of pressure ulcers or bedsores. The whistleblowers alleged Hill-Rom filed those claims for patients who no longer qualified for Medicare, including patients who had died or were no longer using the equipment. They alleged Hill-Rom continued to bill Medicare for the same patients for long periods of time without making any reasonable effort to determine whether those patients continued to qualify for Medicare.

The $41.8 million Hill-Rom whistleblower settlement will compensate the Medicare trust fund for the amounts Hill-Rom claimed, received and paid from 1999-2007. However, based on the charges against Hill-Rom, the $41.8 settlement amount is believed to be only a fraction of the actual amount Hill-Rom over-billed Medicare. 

The Hill-Rom whistleblower lawsuit was brought under the False Claims Act, which allows private citizens with evidence of fraud against government contractor to sue on the government’s behalf in order to recover the stolen funds. Under the qui-tam provisions of the Act, whistleblowers may be awarded between 15% to 25% of the recovered funds as compensation for the risk and effort of bringing such an action. The two Hill-Rom whistleblowers will share an award of nearly $8 million from the proceeds of the settlement. 

Employees who believe their employer is committing Medicare fraud are encouraged to contact an attorney to discuss their options for putting an end to the fraud.