by Ben Vernia | October 18th, 2022
On October 18, the Department of Justice announced that Carter Healthcare, LLC, two affiliated companies and two senior managers have agreed to pay $7.175 million to settle a whistleblower’s allegations that they submitted claims for medically unnecessary services. According to DOJ’s press release:
Carter Healthcare LLC, an Oklahoma-based for-profit home health provider, its affiliates CHC Holdings and Carter-Florida (collectively Carter Healthcare), and their President Stanley Carter and Chief Operations Officer Bradley Carter have agreed to pay $7.175 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by billing the Medicare program for medically unnecessary therapy provided to patients in Florida. Bradley Carter will pay $175,000, Stanley Carter will pay $75,000, and Carter Healthcare will pay the remaining $6.925 million of the settlement.
Between 2014 and 2016, Carter Healthcare allegedly billed the Medicare Program knowingly and improperly for home healthcare to patients in Florida based on therapy provided without regard to medical necessity and overbilled for therapy by upcoding patients’ diagnoses.
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The two executives agreed to a five-year exclusion from participating inb federal healthcare programs; the company will accept a corporate integrity agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services that will last as long.
DOJ announced that the whistleblowers, two therapists who had worked for the company, will receive $1.3 million of the settlement (a relators’ share of approximately 18%).
