UChicago Medicine Dodges Fraud Claim, Debt Collector Doesn’t

Whistleblowers won partial revival of their Medicare fraud suit against billing and debt collection companies Medical Business Office Corp. and Trustmark Recovery Services Inc., but not against the University of Chicago Medical Center, according to a Seventh Circuit opinion.

Kenya Sibley, Jasmeka Collins, and Jessica Lopez alleged that the defendants violated the False Claims Act by improperly billing Medicare for debt collection services. Medicare reimburses healthcare providers for “bad debt” arising from unpaid deductible and coinsurance amounts. A federal district court dismissed the suit in August 2021.

But the whistleblowers have adequately raised three specific instances of Trustmark allegedly seeking ...