Bottom line: Medicaid pays the same amount for a Midwife as for an Ob-Gyn. Thus, some hospitals have a financial incentive to push even the high-risk patients to use Midwives rather than doctors. Unfortunately, this is happening at considerable risk and sometimes serious damage to patients.
$100 Million Lawsuit Filed
$100 Million federal law suit was filed against Indiana University Health and 2 associated medical organizations, Healthnet and MDWise. Allegations state “Contrary to their carefully crafted image of offering compassionate care for the indigent, two of the largest healthcare providers in Indianapolis put poor, pregnant women and their newborn babies at risk with a fraud scheme designed to increase revenues, regardless of the law or the risks to the most medically-fragile patients.”
A doctor at the hospital filed a complaint after what she saw there. Dr. Judy Robinson is the former medical director at the hospital. “I’m filing this lawsuit because of the abysmal care I witnessed these people receiving. And, after approaching IU Health, nobody would do anything.” Robinson pointed out that patients who should have received monitoring during their pregnancy didn’t receive the monitoring. “There was little to no physician involvement in the obstetrical care of these high-risk patients.”
Under the state Medicaid reimbursement rules, “Nurse midwives may not provide services to members with medically high-risk pregnancies. However, according to the lawsuit, lower-cost nurse midwives handled high-risk patients, in violation of the Medicaid regulations.
To make it worse, the hospital filed false-claims with the state and federal government for doctor services the patients never received. The hospitals are using midwives but getting reimbursed for using doctors.
Babies Permanently Damaged
According to Dr. Robinson, at least 3 babies suffered permanent neurological damage and 17 infants nearly missed a tragic outcome.
Thanks to whistleblowers like Dr. Judy Robinson, the lives of children may be dramatically changed for the better.
If you think you may have a whistleblower case, have a confidential talk with a whistleblower attorney as soon as possible. These are time-sensitive matters. A whistleblower attorney knows how to protect your rights and get results.