Federal Ambulance Service Lawsuits Could Affect Nursing Home Resident Transport

​A series of lawsuits against hospitals could affect the nursing home residents who are transported back to their facilities after hospitalization. As reported in a May 2, 2015, Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) story, the federal lawsuits, generally brought by the U.S. government on behalf of whistleblowers, allege violations of federal fraud and abuse laws related to ambulance billing. Acknowledging that rules for ambulance service reimbursement are among the most complex eligibility rules in the government and that the hospitals themselves reaped no financial gain, U.S. attorneys are nonetheless suing the hospitals for being the cause of the improper billing.