Judge Rules That Whistleblower Is Not Entitled to Any Money From Settlement Over Medi-Cal Payments
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge John Walter ruled that a whistleblower who was involved in a case that led to a settlement between the government and SCAN Health Plan in 2012 was not entitled to receive any of the settlement money. In 2009, Jim Swoben -- a former SCAN employee -- filed a lawsuit against the health plan alleging that it hid from the state duplicative or overlapping payments from Medicare and Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program. State and federal authorities later recouped more than $320 million in excess payments from a settlement with SCAN. SCAN did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement. In the ruling last week, Walter said Swoben is not eligible to receive any of the settlement money because the information used in his lawsuit already was publicly released before the suit was filed.
- "Whistle-Blower in $320 Million SCAN Case Not Entitled to Cash" (Schencker, Modern Healthcare, 8/31).