Manhattan based Qui Tam Whistleblower Attorney Timothy J. McInnis announces an $850,000 Medicaid/Medicare False Claims settlement among three plaintiffs: The State of New York; the United States, acting through the U.S. Department of Justice and on behalf of the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; and Deborah Yannicelli; and one defendant: Friendly Home Care, Inc. (“Friendly”).
Friendly, a New York corporation, is a Licensed Home Care Services Agency (“LHCSA”) with its principal place of business at 1811 Kings Highway, Brooklyn. Friendly contracted to provide home health aides to Certified Home Health Agencies (“CHHAs”). The settlement resolves allegations that Friendly knowingly caused various CHHAs to submit claims to New York Medicaid, for which the CHHAs received payment. In turn the CHHAs paid Friendly, for home health aide services provided by individuals who had not received the required training or valid certification.
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, in a news release issued when he was New York State’s attorney general, said the cases, part of a larger investigation into Medicaid home health fraud known as “Operation Home Alone,” represented the Empire State’s largest settlement won by its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Home health aide agencies used hundreds of unqualified workers to provide home care primarily to elderly, frail patients and then unlawfully billed the New York Medicaid Program millions of dollars, Cuomo had said.
As a result of Yannicelli’ s assistance, more than $25 million has now been recovered for U.S. and New York State taxpayers since late 2009.
“Medicaid and Medicare have clearly defined regulations governing training requirements and reimbursement for home health care,” Co-counsel McInnis said. “Our whistleblower client, Deborah Yannicelli, did the right thing. She saw that untrained home health care workers with false certifications were being assigned to elderly clients and brought her concerns to the attention of Medicaid program overseers.”
Yannicelli has received close to $2 million in whistleblower rewards from New York and the United States by providing information responsible for settlements by four defendants in the Home Alone investigation: Extended Home Care; Excellent Home Care; Nursing Personnel; and Friendly Home Care, Inc.
Read the McInnis Yannicelli Settlement News Release
Related filed court documents:
Original Complaint Filed Nov. 5, 2007 (PDF)
Friendly Federal Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Friendly State of NY Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Stipulation of Dismissal and Order (PDF)
Excellent NY State Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Extended NY State Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Nursing Personnel NY State Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Excellent US Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Extended US Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Nursing Personnel US Settlement Agreement (PDF)
