Signature HealthCARE, LLC, agrees to $30 million settlement
Signature HealthCARE, LLC, a company based in Louisville, has agreed to resolve its alleged violations of the False Claims Act to the tune of about 30 million dollars.
The organization, which operates almost 150 skilled nursing facilities, stands accused of knowingly submitting false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy services that were not reasonable, necessary and skilled. The Department of Justice recently announced the allegations.
Under the terms of the settlement, Signature will pay more than $30 million in restitution, money to be distributed throughout the states in which the violations occurred.
The settlement also resolves allegations that Signature submitted forged pre-admission certifications of patient need for skilled nursing to the state of Tennessee’s Medicaid program.
“Today’s settlement demonstrates our continuing efforts to protect patients and taxpayer by ensuring that the care provided to beneficiaries of government-funded healthcare programs is dictated by clinical needs, not a provider’s fiscal interests,” said Chad A. Readler, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Nursing home facilities provide important services to our elderly, and those facilities must uphold the trust placed in them by billing the government only for reasonable and necessary services.”
