Eli's Hospice Insider
Hospice Settles Qui Tam Suit for $1.3 Million
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Hospice owner personally liable for $200K.
More evidence that the feds are cracking down on hospice patient eligibility comes in a seven-figure False Claims Act lawsuit settlement.
Harmony Care Hospice Inc. based in Columbia, 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 Singletary 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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