Wheelchair Against White Background

For-profit nursing home operators that have faced accusations of Medicare fraud and kickbacks in recent years received more than $300 million in coronavirus relief payments, according to a Washington Post analysis released Tuesday. The allegations include putting elderly residents into unnecessary therapy services and delaying patients’ release to reap higher Medicare payments. 

The publication found that more than a dozen companies that received federal funding during the pandemic have settled civil lawsuits with the Justice Department in recent years. Among the accusations are improper Medicare billing, forged documents, substandard care and other abuses. Nearly all the cited facilities also are under active corporate integrity agreements with the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — the agency that distributed the relief payments through its $175 billion Provider Relief Fund. 

According to the analysis, several watchdog groups and independent experts say the government should have assessed the financial needs of individual nursing homes, scrutinized the operators’ track records and attached some spending restrictions before issuing payments.

The American Health Care Association reported in June that both nonprofit and for-profit nursing homes had been “on the verge of financial collapse” amidst the pandemic, faced with the increasing costs of supplies and personnel expenses and the loss of existing and potential residents, advocating for additional federal funding. The industry group said it expects reporting and tracking protocols. 

“For several months, all health care providers have been waiting for guidance on reporting and HHS’ approach to auditing and are anticipating significant oversight in the coming months,” Mike Cheek, AHCA senior vice president of reimbursement policy, said in a statement to The Post. “We support reasonable efforts to ensure this federal aid has been properly directed to providers to cover costs associated with addressing COVID-19 and potential losses,” he added.

This article appeared in the McKnight’s Business Daily, a joint effort of McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.