The DOJ announced that Saad Healthcare, an Alabama corporation offering health care and hospice services, will pay $3 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (“FCA”) by submitting fraudulent claims for hospice care to Medicare.
According to the DOJ, between 2013 and 2020, Saad facilitated and submitted fraudulent claims for patients who did not qualify for the Medicare hospice benefit. Medicare considers beneficiaries terminally ill and eligible for hospice care when they have a life expectancy of six months or less. The DOJ alleges that Saad knew 21 patients were not terminally ill, as defined by the law and regulations governing Medicare hospice care but still submitted claims to the government.
Saad will now pay $3,000,000 to settle the foregoing allegations, of which $1.5 million is restitution. This matter was initiated under the qui tam provisions of the FCA by former Saad employees Melissa Wolff and Whitney Sims. The qui tam Relators will receive $540,000 as part of the settlement. Upon announcing Saad’s settlement, Acting U.S. Attorney Keith A. Jones for the Southern District of Alabama commented that “[c]aring for terminally ill people is a responsibility the United States […] [p]atients and taxpayers deserve not to be cheated, and the Department of Justice will continue to protect them.” This settlement highlights the ongoing efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice to protect Medicare beneficiaries and prevent fraud that exploits vital healthcare programs meant to support vulnerable individuals.
The attorneys at Chilivis Grubman represent clients of all types and sizes in connection to False Claims Act investigations and litigation. If you need assistance with such a matter, please contact us today.