Kindred hospice agrees to pay $19M in multi-state DOJ false claims case

A multi-state hospice home health provider agreed to pay $19.4 million to settle allegations that it paid kickbacks and knowingly billed federal health programs to treat non-terminally ill patients.

Kindred at Home, now Gentiva, allegedly filed false claims to Medicare and/or Medicaid at its operations in Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, Rhode Island, Missouri, and Texas, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and state of Tennessee alleged in a settlement agreement, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The federal government will receive more than $18.9 million, Tennessee $448,000 and Ohio more than $23,000.

The case resolves claims brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by nine former Kindred employees, who will receive an undetermined amount, the DOJ said in a press release Wednesday.