State Requests Lawsuit Against 62 Hospitals Be Dismissed

Two South Bend attorneys who filed a lawsuit against 62 Indiana hospitals are not opposing the state’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Michael Misch and Bradley Colborn claimed the hospitals systematically falsified records and defrauded taxpayers of more than $300 million.

The lawsuit claims the hospitals violated provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The act provides grant funding to help hospitals transition to electronic health record systems.

To receive the money, hospitals must respond to at least 50 percent of the medical records requests they receive within three business days. The lawsuit claims the hospitals falsified records to meet the requirements. It was filed on behalf of State of Indiana and the United States.

But Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill doesn’t want to pursue the litigation. In late December, Hill filed a request to dismiss the lawsuit, saying “any recovery of information is highly unlikely and not in the best interest of the state.”

Hill says the state has “limited resources to investigate fraud and that this case will divert funds and personnel from other investigations without recovering funds for the Indiana Medicaid program.”

Misch and Colborn filed a response to the motion Friday.

“While the [Plaintiffs] do not agree with the State of Indiana’s legal analysis of the claims raised in this matter, the [Plaintiffs] and the State, however, agree that the State is entitled to substantial deference in deciding what claims are prosecuted on its behalf,” they wrote in the response. “As a result, Plaintiffs have decided not to oppose the State’s motion.”

Misch and Colborn did not respond to a request for comment.

Read Curtis Hill’s request for dismissal below:

Curtis Hill Memorandum in Support_PACER by Indiana Public Media News on Scribd