According to a DoJ press release, Life Care Services, LLC (LCS) and CoreCare V LLP (doing business as ParkVista) have agreed to pay $3.75 million to settle allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare for unreasonable or unnecessary rehabilitation therapy to patients in their skilled nursing facilities. LCS manages skilled nursing facilities throughout the country including ParkVista, a skilled nursing facility in Fullerton, California. LCS convinced ParkVista and other facilities to hire RehabCare Group East, Inc. (RehabCare) to provide rehabilitation therapy services.

The government alleges that LCS and ParkVista submitted, or caused to be submitted, false claims for rehabilitation therapy by failing to prevent RehabCare from providing unreasonable or unnecessary therapy to patients in order to increase Medicare reimbursement. The government further alleges that LCS and ParkVista failed to prevent RehabCare from utilizing other practices that inflated Medicare reimbursement for therapy services.

“Patients in skilled nursing facilities and the patients’ families should be able to have confidence that the facilities are not allowing therapy companies to manipulate the amount of therapy being provided based on financial motives,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz for the District of Massachusetts.  “Settlements like this one show that, when a facility contracts with an outside rehabilitation therapy provider, the facility has a continuing responsibility to ensure that the provider is not engaged in conduct that causes the submission of false claims to Medicare.”

To report Medicare fraud, please contact Frohsin & Barger, LLC.