Windfall to Health Insurers Due to COVID-19 Is Not Yet Resulting in Resolution of FCA Risk Adjustment Cases
Posted 08/21/20
As health insurers book record profits during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a dramatic decline in elective surgeries and procedures, this seems like a good time to ask about the status of False Claims Act litigation against Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) relating to risk adjustment fraud. Given the dire shortfall in state and federal money to fight the pandemic, when will MAOs begin paying back the billions...
Whistleblowers Are Critical to Exposing Fraud in the Murky World of For-Profit and Private-Equity Nursing Home Operations
Posted 07/17/20
The settlement of a fraud case against 27 skilled nursing facilities controlled by private owners demonstrates “the power of whistleblowers to shine a light on improper business practices and obtain significant recoveries on behalf of United States taxpayers.” (U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna, C.D. California.) The government’s recognition of the contributions of whistleblowers in the False Claims Act case against...
Under Cover of Pandemic, Nursing Home Residents Illegally Evicted
Posted 06/26/20
“It felt opportunistic, where some homes were basically seizing the moment when everyone is looking the other way to move people out.” (Laurie Facciarossa Brewer, long-term care ombudsman in New Jersey). With nursing homes involved in more than 40% of coronavirus deaths, in depth reporting by Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Amy Julia Harris at the New York Times reveals a new threat to residents’ care and...
Implicit in the arguments made by many Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs), health plans, hospital networks and other defendants in response to whistleblower and government False Claims Act complaints is that the alleged misconduct—falsifying diagnosis data so that CMS overpays for patients enrolled in an MA plan—involves just a technical record-keeping or administrative dispute with CMS and no actual...
Increased Federal Funds, Incentives, and Requirements for Nursing Homes Brings Worrisome Opportunities for Fraud
Posted 06/5/20
The pandemic has exposed the razor thin margin for error by which our most vulnerable are cared for in nursing homes. New aggregate federal data reveal the appalling toll on facility residents and staff: over 31,700 deaths as of June 4, 2020 (an undercounted 1/3 of all US COVID-19 deaths), according to the federal government’s Nursing Home Compare. Responsive federal funding for nursing homes, requirements for...
Private Equity Ownership of Nursing Homes Might Have Made Everything Worse
Posted 05/15/20
Most nursing homes already had no room for error before COVID-19. Years of private equity ownership and competition with other elder-care services dealt a one-two punch to the cash-strapped facilities’ ability to react to the pandemic crisis, says The New York Times in a troubling analysis. In particular, private equity firms’ relentless quest for profits, miniscule margins, and regular cash-draining...
Let’s Talk about Nursing Homes – Who Will Raise the Red Flag Now That Routine Inspections Are Halted?
Posted 05/14/20
In March 2020, the federal government abruptly paused non-emergency inspections of some 15,300 nursing homes and other long-term healthcare facilities nationwide in order to focus on preparations to respond to the threat of COVID-19 pandemic. This triage means that an on-site survey will be authorized only in cases of “immediate jeopardy” of serious harm (e.g., abuse) or reported infection-control...
New Lawsuit Against Anthem Shows the Government’s Commitment to Medicare Advantage Fraud
Posted 04/3/20
Medicare Advantage, also called Medicare Part C, is ever-expanding part of our healthcare system. The program now insures over a third of total Medicare beneficiaries, well over 10 million people. An expansion in fraud has accompanied the program’s expansion, and the Department of Justice is zeroing in, with the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, Joseph Hunt, recently declaring it a...
Charges Filed in Shameful COVID-19 and Genetic-Cancer-Screening Test Scam
Posted 04/3/20
Erik Santos of Braselton, Georgia had run a fraudulent genetic cancer-screening-test scheme for months, then spotted an opportunity capitalize on fear surrounding COVID-19. According to the criminal complaint, Santos targeted elderly persons to determine if they met certain eligibility requirements for testing under government health-care programs. He passed the information along to co-conspirator testing...
Consistent with the trend in prior years, the bulk of the Justice Department’s fraud and false claims recoveries in 2019 stemmed from healthcare fraud matters. And again, most of the funds recovered arose from cases originated by whistleblowers under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Not surprisingly, seven of the top ten spots in our list involved false claims act lawsuits against drug companies...