October 10, 2014 — The Justice Department has announced that a major chain of nursing homes must pay $38 million to resolve a lawsuit alleging that they provided worthless care, jeopardized the safety of elders, and overcharged Medicare and Medicaid for unnecessary rehabilitation.
Extendicare Health Services, Inc. was accused of numerous abuses, such as failing to provide enough skilled nurses, failing to provide adequate catheter care, and failing to take appropriate steps to prevent ulcers (bed sores) and falls.
Extendicare was also accused of subjecting patients to unnecessary rehabilitation services so they could charge Medicare and Medicaid the maximum possible rate per day, putting company profits above the needs of their patients.
Prosecutors with the Justice Department stated:
“Extendicare billed Medicare and Medicaid for materially substandard nursing services that were so deficient that they were effectively worthless and billed Medicare for medically unreasonable and unnecessary rehabilitation therapy services.”
Extendicare operates about 150 nursing homes in 11 states. Only 33 nursing homes in eight states were included in the allegations of abuse, including Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.
The lawsuit was filed by two private citizens under the False Claims Act, which allows individuals to bring lawsuit against corporations on behalf of the United States of America and receive a portion of the damages.
One of the plaintiffs, Tracy Lovvorn, received $1.8 million for showing that Extendicare “upcoded” patients to receive higher reimbursements. Another plaintiff, Donald Gallick, will receive over $250,000 for showing that Extendicare provided worthless service to patients in Ohio.
Do I have a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting nursing home induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or your family member was injured by abuse or poor care at a nursing home, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Elder Abuse & Neglect Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading plaintiffs' law firms and handles cases in all 50 states. We are very proud of our legal achievements, but equally self-respecting of our firm's reputation for providing personal attention to each and every client we represent.
