A Los Angeles company that runs 27 nursing homes has agreed to pay $16.7 million to settle allegations of Medicare fraud, the U.S. attorney's office announced Monday.
Longwood Management Corp. didn't acknowledge any wrongdoing but it did agree to undergo an independent corporate integrity review annually for five years.
The settlement was signed several months ago.
Two federal whistleblower lawsuits alleged that Longwood pressured rehabilitation therapists at its Southern California skilled nursing facilities to submit Medicare claims for unecessary services.
“Specifically, Longwood allegedly pressured therapists to increase the amount of therapy provided to patients to meet pre-planned targets for Medicare revenue. These targets were alleged to have been set without regard to patients’ individual therapy needs," according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office.
A call to Longwood Management Corp. seeking comment wasn't immediately returned.
