Hospice care provider Odyssey HealthCare agreed to pay $12.9 million to settle civil fraud claims that it overbilled Medicare.  The company was accused of billing for services for non-terminally ill patients who were not eligible for payments under Medicare rules.  Odyssey agreed to enter into a Corporate Intergity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services.  The case grew out of a qui tam action filed by JoAnne Russell, a former regional vice president, who will receive over $2.3 million from the settlement. A Department of Justice press release (here) discusses the civil settlement.  (ph)