MultiCare Health System to Pay $3.7M in False Claims Act Healthcare Fraud Settlement

MultiCare Health System has agreed to pay $3.728 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that it knowingly endangered patient safety and submitted fraudulent billing to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary spinal surgeries performed at its facilities. The settlement announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington stems from surgeries conducted between 2019 and 2021 by a former MultiCare neurosurgeon, which were later linked to fraudulent claims and red flags that MultiCare failed to address.

Court records show that multiple physician assistants raised serious patient safety concerns to MultiCare management about the surgeon’s practices, but the health system continued to employ and incentivize him to perform complex procedures, resulting in thousands of additional surgeries and substantial improper billings to government payers. The case originated from a qui tam complaint filed by a former patient relator and reflects a coordinated enforcement effort by federal and state authorities to protect public health programs from abuse. The settlement includes restitution for taxpayers and reinforces the critical role whistleblowers play in exposing healthcare fraud within large healthcare systems.