Amedisys, a Baton Rouge, La.-based home health provider, will pay $43.8 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging the provider and its former executives participated in a Medicare fraud scheme, The Advocate reports.
Amedisys shareholders filed the lawsuit in a Baton Rouge federal court in 2010 against the company and some of its former top executives. In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim Amedisys' former management "expressly or implicitly approved" a scheme to increase the company's home health visits volume to inflate Medicare bonus payments.
The home health provider's insurers will pay about $15 million of the settlement, while Amedisys will cover the remainder, the report states. Amedisys projects a pre-tax charge of $28.8 million in the second quarter due to the settlement.
In 2014, Amedisys paid a $150 million settlement for allegedly increasing Medicare home visits to boost payments.