Centers Health Care, the owner of 44 nursing homes located across New York and New Jersey, will pay more than $6 million for making false statements on Medicare cost reports. U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III said Tuesday that skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) owned by Centers Health submitted false reports to the Centers for Medicare and […]
Category: Fraud
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is requesting $454.4 million in its fiscal year 2026 budget to continue fighting fraud, waste, and abuse in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) programs, with nursing homes being identified as one of its three main areas of priority, with the reduction of antipsychotic drug use […]
Palm Health Partners’ Paul Walczak on Wednesday was pardoned by President Donald Trump, weeks after Walczak’s mother Elizabeth Fago attended a $1 million-per-person fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. The Florida-based nursing home executive failed to pay more than $10 million in taxes, instead using the withheld taxes to enrich himself, according to an April statement from the […]
The UnitedHealth Group (Nasdaq: UNH) allegedly paid bonuses to nursing homes in order to reduce hospital transfers of residents under its Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, according to an investigation conducted by The Guardian. The investigation revealed these cost-cutting practices saved the company millions, but endangered patient health; this included delayed or denied emergency hospital care. […]
Joseph Schwartz, former head of Skyline Healthcare, was convicted and sentenced to three years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a multi-million-dollar tax scam. According to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court in the District of New Jersey on Friday, Schwartz was convicted on “willful […]
Nineteen nursing homes in Massachusetts and Connecticut have been named in a joint complaint alleging systematic fraudulent billing of Medicare and Medicaid for unnecessary care. The facilities, along with present and former management companies RegalCare Management Group, RegalCare Management 2.0, owner Eliyahu Mirlis and executive Hector Caraballo, and therapy company Stern Therapy Consultants were involved […]
There doesn’t appear to be any jail time for a Louisiana skilled nursing operator, who sent more than 800 elderly residents to wait out Hurricane Ida in a crowded, ill-equipped warehouse, resulting in the deaths of seven evacuees, five being classified as storm-related deaths. Bob Dean Jr. was instead sentenced to three years of probation, […]
More nursing homes owned by Centers Health Care are being investigated for alleged Medicaid fraud, while also having been plagued with serious safety concerns. The 240-bed Hammonton Center and Deptford Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare in New Jersey, join other facilities owned by Centers Health that are under investigation, according to a report from the […]
ReNew Health, a California-based nursing home chain, has settled a Medicare fraud lawsuit for $7 million tied to pandemic-era waivers, according to recently unsealed court filings. The lawsuit claims that ReNew falsely billed Medicare for skilled nursing stays using the 3-day hospital waivers issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The Department […]
Nursing facilities were among six provider types with the most patient abuse and neglect convictions tied to Medicaid than other provider types in 2023, as a whopping 841 criminal and civil patient and abuse complaints related to the sector – topping all other categories – are still open to investigation. There are 238 open nursing […]
Two more nursing homes in New Jersey have their Medicaid funding suspended following allegations of massive fraud by the owners related to their New York facilities. Deptford Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare, and Hammonton Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare will lose their Medicaid funding on May 24, according to the Office of the State Comptroller […]
Improving nursing home oversight and quality will be “top priority” for the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG), as the Biden administration pushes ahead with its reform initiatives. “My top priority is propelling meaningful improvement in the quality and safety of care in the more than 15,000 Medicare- and […]
Former Skyline Healthcare owner Joseph Schwartz now faces 22 felony charges in New Jersey for allegedly not paying $29.5 million in payroll and unemployment taxes, and benefit plan fraud, while he owned and operated 95 facilities in 11 states. Schwartz was reportedly arrested on Jan. 20 at his home in Rockland County, N.Y., NBC News […]
Former Skyline Healthcare owner Joseph Schwartz on Monday was charged with Medicaid and tax fraud – more than three years after the nursing home chain collapsed. The Arkansas Attorney General’s office charged Schwartz, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with eight counts of Medicaid fraud and two counts of tax fraud – all felonies – according […]
Florida nursing home giant Consulate Health Care will pay $4.5 million of a $258 million judgment in a settlement with the Department of Justice that was formally approved by a U.S. Bankruptcy judge this week. The deal, finalized on Wednesday, emanates from a decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Florida to […]
The nursing home operator SavaSeniorCare LLC and its related entities have agreed to pay $11.2 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act (FCA), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday. That amount encompasses both federal and state settlements, with additional payments possible “if certain financial contingencies occur,” according to the DOJ. The […]
Skilled nursing facility surveys have skyrocketed over the past year, with some worrying that surveyors have also grown more aggressive. Federal data indicates that the number of surveys conducted nationwide has risen 132% percent since 2020, leaving some wondering how fairly standards are being applied when COVID-19 is already forcing facilities to contend with staff […]
The state of California on Monday filed a lawsuit against Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD), accusing the company of submitting false nursing home staffing data to the federal government and improperly handling resident discharges. California attorney general Xavier Becerra — President Biden’s pick to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services […]
A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh indicted the former administrator of a skilled nursing facility in the region on charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., health care fraud, and the obstruction of a federal audit, U.S. attorney Scott W. Brady and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Thursday. The three-count indictment names Susan Gilbert, […]
A management company that provided financial back-office services to health care facilities agreed to pay $714,996 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act — specifically related to claims for reimbursement of Medicare bad debt — acting U.S. attorney Rachael A. Honig announced this week. The federal government through the U.S. Department of […]
Subscribe
Receive industry updates and breaking news from SNN.