Date: July 22, 2024
WKBN, Hospice News, and other media reported on a recent $19.4 settlement resolving allegations that Gentiva, a network of hospice providers, defrauded government insurance programs for over a decade. TELG clients Jason Medved and Anthony Donnadio will get a portion of Gentiva's payout to the U.S. government for their role in blowing the whistle on alleged Medicare fraud at the Ohio hospice where they worked as nurses. Mr. Medved and Mr. Donnadio were represented by TELG principal Janel Quinn.
Quoteworthy:
“They were advocates for ethical medicine, even when it wasn’t easy. This settlement is a fitting recognition of their professionalism and their bravery."
Janel Quinn
[EXCERPT]
Local whistleblowers help in federal hospice investigation
BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) — The parent company that operates a hospice provider in Boardman has agreed to a settlement in a federal lawsuit alleging that the local location, along with others in the southern part of the country, defrauded the government, according to federal prosecutors.
Gentiva, formerly known as Kindred at Home, has agreed to pay $19 million to resolve allegations that it and other entities of Gentiva knowingly submitted, or caused to be submitted, false claims for hospice services provided to patients who were ineligible for hospice benefits under Medicare and other federal health care programs because the patients were not terminally ill, according to Department of Justice.
[…]
The Employment Law Group said in a news release that there were 20 whistleblowers in the case, including two from the Youngstown area involving SouthernCare, who helped to recover about $2.13 million in alleged fraudulent billing.
“They were advocates for ethical medicine, even when it wasn’t easy. This settlement is a fitting recognition of their professionalism and their bravery,” said Janel Quinn, a principal of The Employment Law Group.
[ADDITIONAL COVERAGE]
Gentiva Settles FCA Claims Against Kindred at Home
From Hospice News (July 18, 2024)
Gentiva has agreed to pay $19.4 million to resolve False Claims Act complaints that predate the company’s acquisition of Kindred at Home.
[…]
Gentiva’s parent company, the private equity firm Clayton, Dublier and Rice, acquired a 60% stake Kindred at Home’s hospice assets in 2022 for $2.8 million, with previous owner Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) retaining the remaining 40%.
“The hospice benefit under Medicare and other federal health care programs provides critical services to some of the most vulnerable patients,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, in a statement. “The department will ensure that this important benefit is used to assist those who need it, and not as an opportunity to line the pockets of those who seek to abuse it.”
>> View full story on Hospice News
Kindred to Pay $19.43 Million in Hospice Services Settlement
From Bloomberg Law (July 17, 2024)
The Justice Department reached a settlement with Gentiva Health Services, successor to Kindred at Home, for $19.43 million to resolve allegations that the company knowingly submitted false claims and retained overpayments for hospice services provided to patients who were ineligible for Medicare or Medicaid hospice benefits, the department announced Wednesday.
The settlement also resolves allegations that SouthernCare New Beacon, a Gentiva affiliate, violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by willfully paying renumeration to a consulting physician, between 2016 and 2022, to induce hospice referrals of Medicare beneficiaries to its Gadsden, Ala., location, the department said.
>> View full story on Bloomberg Law
Kindred hospice agrees to pay $19M in multi-state DOJ false claims case
From Compliance Week (July 18, 2024)
A multi-state hospice home health provider agreed to pay $19.4 million to settle allegations that it paid kickbacks and knowingly billed federal health programs to treat non-terminally ill patients.
Kindred at Home, now Gentiva, allegedly filed false claims to Medicare and/or Medicaid at its operations in Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, Rhode Island, Missouri, and Texas, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and state of Tennessee alleged in a settlement agreement, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
>> View full story on Compliance Week
Hospice provider with Warwick location settles false claims lawsuit for $19.4M
From Providence Business News (July 18, 2024)
PROVIDENCE — Gentiva, a national hospice provider with a facility in Warwick, has agreed to pay $19.4 million to resolve allegations it knowingly submitted false claims and retained overpayments for services provided to patients who were ineligible to receive hospice benefits.
