Home Health & Hospice Week

Texts proved crucial in $1.75 million fraud settlement.

An upscale senior living company accused of sharing its early COVID vaccinations with rich potential donors instead of its nursing home patients is expanding its hospice footprint in Florida.

“After helping patients and families in the MorseLife Health System community navigate the end-of-life journey, MorseLife Hospice & Palliative Care is expanding throughout Palm Beach County,” the West Palm Beach not-for-profit says in a release. In addition to a variety of senior living options, the company offers home health, PACE, and meals on wheels.

“MorseLife Hospice & Palliative Care provides services wherever an individual lives: at home, in a hospital, skilled nursing or assisted living venues,” the provider notes in the release. “MorseLife is the only senior living provider in Florida authorized to make cannabinoid-based therapies available among its numerous other treatment options in a variety of care settings,” it adds.

“MorseLife Health System celebrates life, and that is never more evident than in our hospice and palliative care programs which serve people of any age,” MorseLife CEO Keith A. Myers says in the release.

This announcement comes more than a year after the U.S. Department of Justice announced that MorseLife Health System Inc. agreed to pay the U.S. $1.75 million “to resolve its potential liability under the False Claims Act for facilitating COVID-19 vaccinations for hundreds of individuals ineligible to participate in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program (LTC PPP), a program specifically designed to vaccinate long-term care facility (LTCF) residents and staff when doses of COVID-19 vaccine were in limited supply at the beginning of the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Program,” according to a June 2022 DOJ release.

The Washington Post and New York Post reported in January 2021 about the scheme, and a number of federal and state agencies undertook investigations. The settlement announcement came 18 months later.

“Because the LTCF population was at the highest risk of COVID-19 infections, the CDC created the LTC PPP to prioritize vaccinations of that population as quickly as possible and while vaccine availability was limited,” the DOJ explained in its 2022 release. “Over 8 million vaccine doses were administered to LTCF residents and staff through this program,” it recalled.

“The settlement resolves allegations that MorseLife knew that the LTC PPP covered only LTCF residents and staff, but nevertheless invited and facilitated the vaccination of hundreds of ineligible persons at the clinic by characterizing them as ‘staff ’ and ‘volunteers,’ many of whom MorseLife targeted for donations,” the DOJ said. “The United States alleged that MorseLife (1) characterized board members as ‘staff,’ (2) directed the organization’s fundraising arm to invite donors and potential donors to the vaccination clinic, and (3) allowed the Vice Chairman of the MorseLife Health Systems Inc. Board and his brother to invite close to 300 ineligible individuals to receive the vaccine at MorseLife,” Justice specified.

The Justice Department didn’t name Myers in the release, just referred to him as “MorseLife’s CEO.” But that person was undoubtedly Myers, the Washington Post reported when the announcement was made.

Myers sent a number of incriminating texts cited by the DOJ, including this one: “Go after the billionaires first,” he said. “I have delivered you 350 of the richest people in the country and you’re still thinking $25,000 gift … Do not be weak be strong you have the opportunity to take advantage of everyone who needs the shot and figure out what they have and what we can go after.”

Myers received annual compensation of about $1.5 million in 2019, the Post reported. He continues as MorseLife’s CEO, as evidenced by this latest release.