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May 05, 2025
Three women whose lawsuit helped New Mexico collect $18.5 million in unpaid taxes from the state’s largest health insurance provider are fighting for what they say is their share of additional money collected through a subsequent administrative proceeding.
Former Office of the Superintendent of Insurance employees Monica Galloway, Shawna Maestas and Jolene Gonzales testified last week that they filed their lawsuit — which accused Presbyterian Health of cooking its books to avoid tax liability, among other things — in 2016 after they reported their findings to their boss, then-Superintendent of Insurance John Franchini, and he refused to take action.
Under the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, citizens who suspect government fraud can file their own lawsuit, but the Attorney General’s Office gets a chance to prosecute the allegations first if it wishes.
Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office took over prosecution of the complaint shortly after it was filed and reached a settlement with Presbyterian in which the insurer agreed to pay the state $18.5 million related to tax credits the company had improperly claimed in 2003 and 2004.
For their efforts, the women were part of the settlement and collected 20 percent of that money, about $3.7 million.
The state Office of Superintendent of Insurance has since recovered about $15.5 million more from the company through an administrative proceeding.
The women’s attorney argued in a bench trial that concluded Monday that they are entitled to 20 percent of that money too, but the state won’t give them the money they’re asking for — an additional $3 million.
“Relater’s share seems to be touchy subject,” the women’s attorney, Kate Ferlic, said during her opening statement last week on the first day of the trial. “Once the government gets the money in hand, it does seem to fight relaters over what is guaranteed to them. These women fought hard and suffered great losses including the loss of their jobs. … The state stood on the shoulders of these women and is now making them fight for their relater’s share.”
The Office of the Superintendent of Insurance has taken the position that the 20 percent the relaters negotiated during the first settlement applies only to the first collection and the women were mistaken if they assumed otherwise.
“There was no meeting of the minds,” Office of the Superintendent of Insurance attorney Todd Baran said in court last week. “There were a lot of sophisticated lawyers in the room. … They thought they were bargaining for 20 percent of everything, but the attorney general is going to say, ‘That was never expressed by us.’ ”
