Federal Government Joins False Claims Act Lawsuits Alleging National Skilled Nursing Chain Routinely Over-Treated Patients to Increase Revenue from Medicare Payments
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last week that it has intervened in three whistleblower lawsuits alleging SavaSeniorCare LLC and its related entities have violated the False Claims Act. SavaSeniorCare operates approximately 200 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in 23 states nationwide.
The government’s complaint alleges that SavaSeniorCare knowingly and routinely submitted false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy services that were not medically reasonable and necessary. Specifically, the government alleges that the company:
- Pressured its skilled nursing facilities to meet unrealistic financial goals;
- Over-treated and provided unskilled services to Medicare patients;
- Targeted the highest Medicare reimbursement rates to significantly increase revenues;
- Delayed the discharge of patients who were medically ready to be released.
The three whistleblower cases against Sava are captioned:
- United States ex rel. Hayward v. SavaSeniorCare, LLC, et al., No. 3:11-0821 (M.D. Tenn.);
- United States ex rel. Scott v. SavaSeniorCare Administrative Services, LLC, 3:15-0404 (M.D. Tenn.); and
- United States ex rel. Kukoyi v. Sava Senior Care, L.L.C., et al., No. 3:15-1102 (M.D. Tenn.).
False Claims Act Lawsuits Target Medicare Fraud
Medicare fraud not only cheats the federal government, it risks the health and well-being of our most vulnerable citizens. Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel represents whistleblowers in False Claims Act lawsuits nationwide who have uncovered fraud in the healthcare industry, and we are proud to represent Terrence Scott in the case referenced above.
If you have information about Medicare fraud, contact us by email or call our qui tam attorneys at 800.226.9880 to learn more about our practice and find out how we can work together to notify the government about Medicare fraud.
