Archive

December 21, 2017

Florida-based Haven Hospice agreed to pay roughly $5 million to resolve allegations that Haven violated the False Claims Act by knowingly billing the government for medically unnecessary and undocumented hospice services. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by former Haven employee Dr. John Simons. Dr. Simons will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $900,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ (MDFL)

December 11, 2017

Yunesky Fornaris, the owner and operator of defunct Miami home health agency Elite Home Care, was sentenced to 115 months in prison and to pay $15.1 million in restitution for his role in a $15 million conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program through the enlisting of patient recruiters to recruit patients to Elite in exchange for illegal bribes and kickbacks. DOJ

November 21, 2017

Sila Luis, the owner and operator of two defunct Miami home health agencies, was sentenced to 80 months in prison and pay $45 million in restitution, for her role in a $74 million conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.  As part of her guilty plea, Luis admitted that she and her co-conspirators operated LTC Professional Consultants Inc. to fraudulently bill the Medicare program for home health care services, including diabetic injections, skilled nursing visits, physical therapy, and other treatments and services.  Professional Home Care Solutions Inc. was another home health agency under Luis’s ownership and control that was involved in the conspiracy.  Luis further admitted that she and her co-conspirators paid patient recruiters kickbacks and bribes in exchange for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries to LTC.  DOJ

December 8, 2017

The owner of a Houston home health agency was sentenced to 80 years in prison for his role in a $13 million Medicare fraud scheme and for filing false tax returns. Ebong Tilong, 53, of Sugarland, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon of the Southern District of Texas. According to the evidence presented at trial and Tilong’s admissions in connection with his guilty plea, from February 2006 through June 2015, Tilong and others conspired to defraud Medicare by submitting over $10 million in false and fraudulent claims for home health services to Medicare through Fiango Home Healthcare Inc. (Fiango), owned by Tilong and his wife, Marie Neba, 53, also of Sugarland, Texas. The trial evidence showed that using the money that Medicare paid for such fraudulent claims, Tilong paid illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters for referring Medicare beneficiaries to Fiango for home health services. DOJ

October 30, 2017

Ohio-based Chemed Corporation and various wholly-owned subsidiaries, including Vitas Hospice Services LLC and Vitas Healthcare Corporation, agreed to pay $75 million to resolve charges they violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims for hospice services to Medicare for patients not terminally ill.  Vitas is the largest for-profit hospice chain in the United States and was acquired by Chemed in 2004.  The government alleged the defendants rewarded employees with bonuses for the number of patients receiving hospice services, without regard to whether they were actually terminally ill and whether they would have benefited from continuing curative care.  The government further alleged that Vitas submitted false claims to Medicare for continuous home care services that were not necessary, not actually provided, or not performed in accordance with Medicare requirements.  The allegations originated in several whistleblower lawsuits filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  The whistleblowers will receive a portion of the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ

October 24, 2017

A federal judge awarded the government roughly $2 million in a verdict against Maryland-based home health care company Dynamic Visions, Inc. for violating the False Claims Act because its employees repeatedly and routinely falsified records to obtain funds from Medicaid.  Specifically, a government investigation found many of the company's patient files did not contain physician authorizations, called “plans of care,” as required under applicable regulations; contained plans of care that were not signed by physicians or other qualified health care workers; or contained forged signatures in order to cover up the lack of a physician’s authorization. DOJ (DDC)

September 5, 2017

Tennessee-based affiliated home health entities Home Health Care of East Tennessee, Inc.; Home Health Care of West Tennessee, Inc.; Home Health Care Services, Inc.; Home Health Care Services II, Inc.; Health Care Staffing of Tennessee, Inc.; and Home Health Care Support Services, Inc. agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act and Stark Law for billing Medicare for home health and hospice services not properly payable due to compensation or other financial arrangements with certain referring physicians. DOJ (EDTN)

August 18, 2017

Godwin Oriakhi, the owner of five Houston-area home health agencies, was sentenced to 480 months in prison for conspiring to defraud Medicare and the State of Texas’ Medicaid-funded Home and Community-Based Service (HCBS) and Primary Home Care (PHC) Programs of more than $17 million.  The HCBS and PHC Programs provided qualified individuals with in-home attendant and community-based services that are known commonly as “provider attendant services.” (PAS).  This case marks the largest PAS fraud case charged in Texas history. DOJ

August 11, 2017

Marie Neba, the owner and director of nursing of Houston home health agency Fiango Home Healthcare Inc., was sentenced today to 75 years in prison for her role in a $13 million Medicare fraud scheme involving the payment of illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters for referring Medicare beneficiaries to Fiango for home health services. DOJ

July 21, 2017

Baton Rouge-based home healthcare company Charter Home Health agreed to pay $1.7 million to settle charges of violating the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by paying for patient referrals.  DOJ (MDLA)