The Denver Post reports DaVita HealthCare Partners said Monday it will pay up to $495 million to settle a whistle-blower lawsuit accusing the Denver company of defrauding the federal Medicare program of millions of dollars.
The company, which said it does not admit any wrongdoing, has now settled its third whistle-blower lawsuit since 2012, with payouts totaling nearly $1 billion.
The civil suit, filed in Atlanta in 2011, revolves around a claim by Dr. Alon J. Vainer and nurse Daniel D. Barbir, who both worked for DaVita. They noticed that DaVita was throwing out good medicine that it then billed Medicare and Medicaid for, according to the lawsuit.
