Gentiva, successor to Kindred at Home, has agreed to pay $19.43 million to resolve allegations that Kindred at Home knowingly submitted false claims and retained overpayments for patients who were ineligible to receive Medicare or Medicaid hospice benefits.
The settlement also resolves allegations against entities that previously operated Kindred at Home hospice locations under the names Avalon, Kindred, SouthernCare and SouthernCare New Beacon, according to a July 18 Justice Department news release.
Four things to know:
1. The settlement resolves allegations that from 2010 until February 2020, certain Kindred-related entities knowingly submitted false claims for hospice services provided to Avalon patients in Tennessee who were ineligible for Medicare or Medicaid benefits because they were not terminally ill. It also resolves allegations the defendants improperly concealed or avoided Avalon's obligation to repay those hospice claims.
2. It also resolves allegations that certain Kindred, SouthernCare and SouthernCare New Beacon hospice locations knowingly submitted false claims for hospice benefits under Medicare and other federal healthcare programs for patients who were ineligible because they were not terminally ill. Those hospices were located in Rhode Island, Texas, Missouri, Alabama, Indiana, and Ohio. The settlement resolves allegations that those locations knowingly and improperly concealed or avoided obligations to repay the foregoing hospice claims.
3. The settlement also resolves allegations that SouthernCare New Beacon violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by willfully paying remuneration to a consulting physician, between Oct. 1, 2016, and Oct. 1, 2022, to induce hospice referrals of Medicare beneficiaries to its Gadsden, Ala., location. The settlement of those allegations stems from a voluntary self-disclosure made by New Beacon Healthcare Group LLC, doing business as SouthernCare New Beacon Hospice.
4. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability, the Justice Department said.