U.S. ex rel. Heater v. Holy Cross Hosp., Inc., No. 03-62097-CIV (S.D.Fla. Aug. 29, 2007)

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted in part a hospital's motion for summary judgment in a qui tam action brought under the federal and state False Claims Act (FCA), holding that the relator failed to establish that the hospital had knowingly filed false claims to Medicare/Medicaid for reimbursement, as is required for a valid FCA claim. Accordingly, the court granted the hospital summary judgment on all claims under the FCA, with the exception of the claims regarding the hospital's quarterly credit balance reports to Medicare/Medicaid, for which the relator presented evidence on which to go forward that the hospital had knowingly over-reported the hospital's credit balance to Medicare/Medicaid.