One of the biggest skilled nursing whistleblower lawsuits in recent years is being settled out of court, according to documents filed in September.
Life Care Centers of America was accused under the False Claims Act of providing unnecessary therapy services to maximize reimbursement. The government joined the case in 2012 and proposed using a sample of 400 Medicare claims from LCCA facilities to show that the inflated therapy claims occurred throughout the company.
The settlement was expected to be finalized by Oct. 31. It may include a corporate integrity agreement, but other terms were not disclosed.
The deal will end allegations both against Life Care Centers and a related action against CEO Forrest Preston, per court documents.
The American Health Care Association argued against the sampling in a friend of the court brief earlier this year.
“Given the prevalence of attempts to use sampling to prove FCA liability against AHCA’s members, and the serious threat of devastating damages, AHCA’s interest is acute,” the brief says.
LCCA declined to comment on the settlement in early October.
From the November 01, 2016 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
