A lawsuit brought by the government alleges that Evercare knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare for hospice care from 2007 to 2013 for patients that were not terminally ill and ineligible for Medicare hospice benefit.
The complaint also alleges that Evercare officials knowingly discouraged physicians from recommending that ineligible patients be discharged from hospice and failed to ensure that nurses accurately documented patients’ conditions.
The allegations arose from whistleblower lawsuits filled by former Evercare employees under provisions of the False Claims Act.
The settlement marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team, a joint initiative launched by the Attorney General and the Secretary of HHS in 2009. Since it’s creation, the Justice Department has recovered more than $30 billion in False Claims cases. More than $18.3 billion of that amount was recovered in cases involving fraud against federal healthcare programs.
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