Gibson Area Hospital in Gibson City has agreed to pay approximately $292,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to return overpayments that it received between March 9, 2014, and March 24, 2020, from Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs.

The settlement resolves allegations that the hospital knowingly retained these overpayments pursuant to alleged practices of keeping overpayments that were under $10, were more than one year old, were duplicate payments, were improperly applied towards separate claims, and/or were payments for which the payer had not requested a refund three times. From the total settlement, the United States will receive approximately $208,000, and the State of Illinois will receive about $84,000.

The announced settlement was made by the U. S. Department of Justice.  Claims resolved are allegations only.  There was no determination of liability.

“This settlement, which avoids protracted litigation, demonstrates that the United States Attorney’s Office, in conjunction with its partners, remains committed to protecting Medicare and Medicaid,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois Douglas J. Quivey. “Although complex programs, the fact remains all medical providers must follow the rules and return taxpayer dollars to which they are not entitled.”

94.1 WGFA