Intrepid U.S.A. Inc. and various wholly-owned subsidiaries agreed to pay $3.85M to settle allegations that Intrepid violated the False Claims Act by: (1) knowingly submitting claims to Medicare for home healthcare services for patients who did not qualify for the Medicare home healthcare benefit or where services otherwise did not qualify for Medicare reimbursement; and (2) knowingly submitting claims to Medicare for patients who did not qualify for the hospice benefit.
The United States had alleged that 19 Intrepid home healthcare facilities submitted claims to Medicare for home healthcare services for patients who did not qualify or were not properly certified as eligible for the Medicare home healthcare benefit, where the services provided were not reasonable or medically necessary, where services were rendered by untrained staff, or where services simply weren't provided. Additionally, the United States had alleged that three Intrepid hospice facilities admitted patients to hospice care who were ineligible for the Medicare hospice benefit because they were not terminally ill, or continued providing services to patients who should have been discharged because they no longer satisfied the requirements for the hospice benefit.
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