Kaiser Whistleblowers Get Full Ninth Circuit Review of FCA Case

Two whistleblowers convinced the full Ninth Circuit to consider their False Claims Act suit alleging that Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. improperly billed Medicare by upcoding diagnoses for medical conditions.

In a Wednesday order written by Judge Mary H. Murguia, a majority of nonrecused active judges from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit voted to rehear the case en banc, vacating a Jan. 10 decision by a three-judge panel from the same court that had rejected the suit.

The panel in January found that the suit, filed by Marcia Stein and Rodolfo Bone, was barred by the ...