John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital Inc. paid the federal government $13.9 million to settle allegations that it submitted false claims to the state's Medicaid program, the U.S. Justice Department announced late last week.

Between November 2002 and July 2008, the Thomasville, Ga.-based hospital allegedly said it was a public hospital for Medicaid purposes, enabling the institution to benefit from an increase in funds as part of the Medicaid Upper Payment Limit program that strictly caters to public institutions. Public hospitals also receive additional funding through the Disproportionate Share Hospital program, which excludes private hospitals.

Archbold Memorial benefited from both programs when it represented itself to the Georgia Department of Community Health as a public hospital, when in fact, it's certified as a private institution, according to the Department of Justice.

The civil settlement resolves a lawsuit filed in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia under whistle-blower provisions of the False Claims Act, which enables citizens to bring civil actions on behalf of the government and receive a share of the settlement. In this case, the whistle-blower was Dr. Wesley Simms, who will receive $696,151 from the settlement, according to the Department of Justice.

"The U.S. Attorney's Office will continue to use the False Claims Act to protect programs like Medicaid, which rely on the honesty and accuracy of information provided by program providers to determine the amount of money paid by the United States," said Sally Quillian Yates, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, in prepared remarks. "Any false statements made in order to increase the amount of money the federal government spends to provide health care to its beneficiaries will be ferreted out and the funds recovered."

Since January 2009, the Justice Department recovered nearly $6.8 billion in False Claims Act cases.

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