July 22, 2020
Carson City, NV – Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced
that Nevada and 46 other states, territories and the federal government are
settling allegations of fraud against Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS).
UHS is a for-profit holding company that directly or indirectly owns the assets
or stock of inpatient and residential psychiatric and behavioral health
facilities. These facilities provide health care services to individuals,
including beneficiaries of some federal health care programs. The case also
involved UHS of Delaware, Inc., a subsidiary of UHS, Inc., which provides
management services to UHS and its subsidiaries.
UHS is based in King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania and is one of the nation’s largest providers of hospital and
healthcare services. The total value of the settlement is $117,000,000. Of this
amount, Nevada will receive $442,331.56.
“My Medicaid Fraud Control Unit holds
individuals and businesses accountable for the services they provide or promise
to provide to Nevadans,” said AG Ford. “Today’s settlement should send a
message to any Medicaid providers attempting to engage in fraud. Government
assistance programs are reserved for those in need, and my office will not
stand for any unlawful activity.”
The settlement resolves allegations that
during the period from January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2018, UHS and
certain UHS entities submitted or caused to be submitted false claims for
services provided to Medicaid beneficiaries resulting from UHS’s:
- Admission
of beneficiaries who were not eligible for inpatient or residential treatment;
- Failure
to properly discharge beneficiaries when they no longer needed inpatient or
residential treatment;
- Improper
and excessive lengths of stay;
- Failure
to provide adequate staffing, training and/or supervision of staff;
- Billing
for services not rendered;
- Improper
use of physical and chemical restraints and seclusion; and
- Failure
to provide inpatient acute or residential care in accordance with federal and
state regulations, including, but not limited to, failure to develop and/or
update individualized assessments and treatment plans, failure to provide
adequate discharge planning, and failure to provide required individual and
group therapy.
The government alleges that UHS’s conduct
violated the Federal False Claims Act and the NRS 357, resulting in the
submission of false claims to the Nevada’s Medicaid program.
This settlement results
from 18 whistleblower lawsuits originally filed in the U.S. District Court for
the Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern District
of Pennsylvania, Northern District of Georgia, Middle District of Georgia,
Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Virginia, Western District of
Michigan, and Eastern District of Michigan. Fourteen of the 18 whistleblower lawsuits
named at least one plaintiff state, and all but three of the cases were
transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania.
This matter was handled
by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
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