Genesis HealthCare to pay $53.6M to settle US probes

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Genesis HealthCare has agreed to pay $53.6 million to settle allegations it submitted false claims to the federal government for unnecessary therapy and substandard nursing care, the Justice Department said Friday.

The settlement resolves six federal lawsuits and investigations alleging Genesis HealthCare companies and facilities violated federal statutes by submitting false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary therapy, hospice service and substandard nursing care.

The company, headquartered in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, owns and operates nursing facilities, senior living facilities and rehabilitation centers in several states.

The company was alleged to have submitted false claims to Medicare for hospice services for patients at a Las Vegas, Nevada facility, even though the patients were not terminally ill, prosecutors said.

Subsidiaries of Genesis HealthCare were also accused of submitting false Medicare and Medicaid claims, providing therapy to patients longer than medically necessary and billing for more therapy time than patients actually received, according to prosecutors.

The settlement also resolved allegations some services provided by nursing homes owned by Genesis were "grossly substandard and/or worthless and therefore ineligible for payment."