Dive Brief:

• Kmart Corp., a unit of Sears Holdings Corp., has paid $1.4 million in a settlement under the False Claims Act for actions pharmacy benefits it offered to Medicare beneficiaries.

• The U.S. government has said that Kmart used coupons and other enticements for Medicare beneficiaries that lured them from generic to name-brand drugs, for example, which ended up costing the Medicare program more money. The company also offered fuel discounts based on the number of Medicare prescriptions filled.

• The infractions occurred from June 2011 to June 2014 and came to light thanks to a whistleblower.

Dive Insight:

Kmart runs nearly 800 pharmacies in their stores nationwide, and seems to have conjured up several ways to get Medicare beneficiaries to fill their prescriptions there. But one of the company’s pharmacists, who will share the settlement money with the government, reported its actions.

The settlement carries no admission of liability, and the company has declined to comment.