A North Carolina home health care company and its owner have agreed to collectively pay $600,000 to resolve allegations that they knowingly violated the Federal and North Carolina False Claims Act, according to a Department of Justice release.
Family First Home Health Care of Gastonia allegedly submitted thousands of fraudulent claims to Medicaid for reimbursement from January 2015 to January 2020, the DOJ stated.
They allegedly billed Medicaid for personal care services that were never performed, such as billing for in-home services on days when patients were hospitalized and aides were out of town.
“Medicaid beneficiaries qualifying for personal care services are those that require assistance with daily living tasks, often the elderly. This settlement demonstrates that those who would profit from defrauding government healthcare payors while taking advantage of vulnerable patients entrusted to their care will be held accountable,” said Dena J. King. U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.