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Home Health & Hospice Week

Industry Note:

Whistleblower Suit Leads To $1.3 Million Settlement

Published on Thu Nov 29, 2012

Hospice owner personally liable for $200K. More evidence that the feds are cracking down on hospice patient eligibility comes in a sev-en-figure False Claims Act lawsuit settlement. Harmony Care Hospice Inc. based in Co-lumbia, S.C. and its owner/CEO Daniel Burton will pay $1.3 million to settle charges that the hospice knowingly submitted claims for ineligible hospice patients, the Department of Justice says in a release. Burton is individually liable for $200,000 of the settlement amount, the DOJ says. The patients at issue did not have a six-month prognosis, the DOJ alleges. The settlement resolves a qui tam lawsuit filed by former Harmony employees Mona Single-tary and Lynda Fulton, Justice says. The staffers will share $245,000 of the settlement. Harmony and Burton will enter into a corporate integrity agreement with the HHS Office of Inspector General, according to the release.
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