CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Elderwood Administrative Services, LLC, and various senior care facilities operating under the Elderwood brand, have agreed to pay $950,000 to resolve allegations arising under the False Claims Act regarding false claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Coriell, who handled the case, stated that Elderwood is a Buffalo-based senior care company that operates facilities in Western New York providing post-acute health care services, including skilled nursing and inpatient rehabilitation. The Government alleges that between August 1, 2013, and December 31, 2018, Elderwood knowingly submitted, or caused to be submitted, false claims for payment to Medicare for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy services that were medically unnecessary. The submission of these medically unnecessary claims resulted in Elderwood receiving artificially inflated payments from Medicaid.
“This settlement reflects the commitment of my office to hold everyone, including healthcare providers, accountable when they seek to defraud the government,” said U.S. Attorney Ross. “My office will continue to ensure that federal taxpayer dollars meant to serve Medicare and Medicaid patients are spent on needed services and we will not allow healthcare providers to become unjustly enriched when they bill for unnecessary services.”
The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Jean Nolan. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Nolan v. Elderwood Health Care at Linwood, Elderwood Senior Care, Inc, Post Acute Partners, and Does 1-100, 15-cv-0099 (W.D.N.Y.). Ms. Nolan will receive a share of the settlement.
The resolution of this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the New York State Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
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