Visiting Nurse Service of New York – Medicare/Medicaid Home Health Care Fraud ($57 million)

Constantine Cannon represented whistleblower Edward Lacey against Visiting Nurse Service of New York – the largest not-for-profit home health care agency in the United States.  VNSNY agreed to pay $57 million to resolve allegations it failed to provide home health care visits and services to tens of thousands of New Yorkers and fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid.  Mr. Lacey was an executive at VNSNY for 16 years.  In his complaint, Mr. Lacey alleged that VNSNY failed to provide its patients all the critical nursing and therapy visits and services their doctors prescribed under the patient Plans of Care.  He contended that by failing to provide this care, VNSNY endangered the welfare of tens of thousands of its patients while maximizing the company’s Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement.  Mr. Lacey’s claims concerning alleged Plan of Care failures impact the entire home health care industry.  This is the first reported False Claims Act settlement involving allegations of a home health agency failing to follow patient Plans of Care.  It also is the largest non-kickback False Claims Act settlement ever against a home health care company and the second largest settlement of any home health care fraud case.  Read more: Press Release; Whistleblower Insider.

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Home Health and Hospice, Lack of Medical Necessity, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,