Hospital whistleblower pay $3.5M for 1

JACKSON, Miss. — A former employee of a Mississippi hospital is getting almost $3.5 million as part of a string of settlements where 18 hospitals in seven states have agreed to pay $20.4 million over allegations they broke federal law by receiving Medicare reimbursements for psychiatric services that were not “medically reasonable or necessary.”

Ryan Ladner worked for Allegiance Health Management at what’s now Merit Health Wesley in Hattiesburg when, his lawyer says, Ladner saw illegal billing.

As the person who brought the fraud to the attention of the federal government, Ladner is getting 17 percent of the settlement amounts. None of the hospitals admits liability in their settlements. However, LifePoint Hospitals self-reported the practices to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2011.

Settlement documents indicate Ladner has been pursuing a whistleblower lawsuit in federal court in Arkansas since 2010 against Allegiance, which is based in Shreveport. The case remains under seal.