Community Health Network, an Indiana-based hospital system, has agreed to pay $135 million to settle allegations of healthcare fraud under the False Claims Act (FCA).

The settlement marks the conclusion of a decade-long case initiated by Thomas P. Fischer, a former chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Community, who acted as a whistleblower.

Fischer's lawsuit alleged that Community violated federal and state laws, including the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute, by providing excessive compensation to employed physicians and above-market-value rents to a physician-owned real estate partnership. These payments were allegedly made to influence patient referrals to Community facilities.

The settlement follows a $345 million agreement reached last year for related claims and a $20.3 million settlement in 2015, bringing Community's total FCA-related payouts to over $500 million in the past decade.

“This historic settlement is a testament to the public-private partnership unique to the FCA,” said Veronica Nannis, Fischer’s attorney at Joseph Greenwald & Laake. “It shows the genius of the FCA — allowing the government to focus on some of the claims while the relator takes the laboring oar on the other claims.”

The $135 million resolution addressed claims pursued solely by Fischer after federal and state authorities declined to intervene in parts of the case. Fischer also resolved his employment-related claims against Community, stemming from his...

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