Home Economy Economic Activity Hospice provider with Warwick location settles false claims lawsuit for $19.4M

Hospice provider with Warwick location settles false claims lawsuit for $19.4M

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PBN Staff

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07/18/2024

Gentiva-Logo-Horizontal-FullColor-PMS Logo — 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 hospice services provided to patients who were ineligible to receive hospice benefits under various federal health care programs.

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. Headquartered in Atlanta, Gentiva’s hospice operations include entities that previously operated Kindred at Home

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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. Headquartered in Atlanta, Gentiva’s hospice operations include entities that previously operated Kindred at Home hospice locations under the names Avalon, Kindred, SouthernCare, and SouthernCare New Beacon, which includes the facility in Warwick that is now a Gentiva location. The settlement resolves allegations made by the federal government and Tennessee in a consolidated complaint filed in 2021 against Kindred-related entities alleging that, from 2010 until February 2020, the defendants knowingly submitted false claims for hospice services provided to Avalon hospice patients in Tennessee who were ineligible because they were not terminally ill. In addition, the settlement also resolves allegations that certain Kindred, SouthernCare, and SouthernCare New Beacon hospice locations knowingly submitted false claims for hospice services provided to patients who were also ineligible for hospice benefits. These hospice locations were in Warwick, Beaumont, Texas, and Independence, Mo.; SouthernCare New Beacon’s location in Demopolis, Ala.; and SouthernCare’s locations in Daphne, and Mobile, Ala, South Bend, Ind., and Youngstown, Ohio. “Today’s result reflects a concerted effort by this office and U.S. Attorneys Offices around the country, working alongside the Fraud Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, and our law enforcement partners, to help to guarantee that Medicare funds are directed where they belong and that high-quality hospice care is available for patients and their families in the future,” U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary A. Chuna said Wednesday. Allegations that those Kindred, SouthernCare and SouthernCare New Beacon locations knowingly and improperly concealed or avoided obligations to repay the foregoing hospice claims were also resolved. “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. “The Department will ensure that this important benefit is used to assist those who need it, The federal government will receive $18.9 million, Tennessee will get $448,800, and Ohio will be paid $23,618 as part of the settlement.