SAN FRANCISCO — The federal government has sued Kaiser Permanente, alleging the health care giant committed Medicare fraud and pressured doctors to list incorrect diagnoses on medical records in order to receive higher reimbursements.
The Department of Justice lawsuit was filed Thursday in San Francisco federal court. It consolidates allegations made in six whistleblower complaints.
Oakland, California-based Kaiser told the Sacramento Bee that its practices are good-faith interpretations from guidance received from the agency that oversees Medicare.
A lawyer for one whistleblower says if Kaiser loses, it might have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties and damages.
