Intermountain to Settle False Claims Dispute Pending Before Supreme Court
Intermountain Healthcare says it has reached a settlement in principle with the cardiologist who filed a False Claims Act lawsuit seven years ago against the Salt Lake City–based nonprofit health system.
Intermountain had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the dispute, seeking relief from the long and costly slog of discovery proceedings at the District Court level. Once the settlement is finalized, however, Intermountain plans to ask the Supreme Court to dismiss its pending petition, thereby dropping its claim that the FCA's qui tam provisions are unconstitutional.
The health system's legal team revealed the plan in a letter late last month to the Supreme Court clerk. Intermountain asked the court to defer its consideration of the case until September to give the parties sufficient time to consummate an agreement.
"At present, Intermountain does not know how long it will take to obtain the government's necessary approval and to finalize and execute the relevant settlement documents," M. Miller Baker of the firm McDermott Will & Emery wrote.
The letter—which has not been published in the online docket but which HealthLeaders obtained from the court—says the possibility that this settlement will fall through is unlikely.