Humana is being required to cover more than $32 million in attorneys’ fees following its $90 million settlement of a federal False Claims Act case, even as a looming appellate challenge raises questions about the future of whistleblower litigation in the United States.
The lawsuit, filed in 2016, alleged that between 2011 and 2017 Humana deliberately inflated the bids it submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). By overstating its projected costs, the complaint argued, Humana secured more favorable terms for its contracts, ultimately leading to substantial overcharges to the government. “This is the first case of its kind to resolve allegations of fraud in the Part D contracting process,” Phillips & Cohen said in a statement at the time of settlement.
Humana did not admit liability in the agreement and maintained it had complied with federal rules. The company said it chose to resolve the matter to avoid the expense and uncertainty of prolonged litigation.
Chief U.S. District Judge Greg Stivers in Louisville, Kentucky, ruled this month that the insurer must pay legal fees and costs to the lawyers for Steven Scott, a former Humana actuary whose allegations of Medicare Part D fraud were resolved last year. “The first case of its kind to resolve allegations of fraud in the Part D contracting process,” Scott’s counsel, Phillips & Cohen, said previously in a statement...
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