FLORIDA – July 7, 2020 – According to an online news report published on News-press.com, a lawsuit against a Florida Nursing home provider could result in a massive judgment of around 250 million dollars. In a recent appellate decision, the court found that the company has been defrauding the government by routinely providing patients with […]
Health Care Facing Massive Fraud Lawsuit
FLORIDA – July 7, 2020 – According to an online news report published on News-press.com, a lawsuit against a Florida Nursing home provider could result in a massive judgment of around 250 million dollars. In a recent appellate decision, the court found that the company has been defrauding the government by routinely providing patients with unnecessary medical care.
Consulate Health Care, which operates one-tenth of the state’s nursing facilities, stated that the judgment would immediately lead to its “economic extinction.”
An industry watcher stated that as the company continues to fight this legal battle, its facilities will likely remain operational. Unfortunately, with the massive judgment looming and the possibility that the company will file bankruptcy, the quality of care for patients and work conditions for employees could decline. As COVID-19 continues to take a massive toll on nursing facilities, the impact of worsening conditions in the homes could be devastating.
If the company is faced with the judgment, a policy attorney for Medicare Advocacy stated that the costs would not likely be coming from the CEO’s salary, and stated that it is frightening to wonder where that money will come from.
Consulate previously had poor ratings in an investigation published in 2018. With the company’s already below-average ratings, the judgment could indicate that workers and residents in these facilities are about to suffer worse conditions.
The lawsuit was filed by a nurse working at one of the facilities that were owned and run by the chain of nursing homes that eventually purchased Consulate and took on that name. According to the whistleblower, the company frequently made patients appear to require more care so that they could bill Medicare for unnecessary treatments, some of which were harmful to patients.
