The government has intervened in three False Claims Act lawsuits and filed a consolidated complaint against SavaSeniorCare LLC and related entities (Sava) alleging that Sava knowingly and routinely submitted false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy services that were not medically reasonable and necessary, the Department of Justice announced today. Sava is one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers, operating approximately 200 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in 23 states.
“The provision of Medicare benefits must be dictated by patient need, not by Medicare providers’ efforts to maximize profits by pressuring their employees to provide medically unnecessary services,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to aggressively pursue companies that seek to engage in this kind of fraudulent scheme.”
The government’s complaint alleges that Sava exerted significant pressure on its SNFs to meet unrealistic financial goals that resulted in the provision of medically unreasonable, unnecessary and unskilled services to Medicare patients. Sava allegedly set these aggressive, prospective corporate targets for the highest Medicare reimbursement rates to significantly increase Sava’s revenues without regard for its patients’ actual clinical needs and then pressured its staff to meet those goals. Sava also allegedly delayed discharging patients from its facilities, even though the patients were medically ready to be discharged, in order to increase its Medicare payments.
“Enforcing the False Claims Act and combating healthcare fraud remains a top priority of the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said U.S. Attorney David Rivera of the Middle District of Tennessee. “When healthcare providers subject patients to unnecessary treatment, we will intervene and hold them accountable.”
The three consolidated lawsuits were filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private parties to sue on behalf of the government for false claims for government funds and to receive a share of any recovery. The False Claims Act also permits the government to intervene in such lawsuits, as it has done in these cases. Under the Act, a defendant that is found liable is subject to damages equal to three times the government’s loss plus applicable penalties.
The government’s intervention in these matters illustrates its emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $26.2 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $16.4 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement, including the conduct described in the United States’ complaint, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
The lawsuits are being handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Tennessee. Investigative support is being provided by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices of the Southern District of Texas and the Western District of Texas; the Offices of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Personnel Management and the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
The cases are captioned United States ex rel. Hayward v. SavaSeniorCare, LLC, et al., No. 3:11-0821 (M.D. Tenn.); United States ex rel. Scott v. SavaSeniorCare Administrative Services, LLC, 3:15-0404 (M.D. Tenn.); and United States ex rel. Kukoyi v. Sava Senior Care, L.L.C., et al., No. 3:15-1102 (M.D. Tenn.).
The claims asserted in the government’s complaint against Sava are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.