Eric T. Schneiderman, New York State Attorney General, reached a settlement in August with Glen Island Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, a Westchester County nursing home, after allegations arose that the facility defrauded Medicaid. The fraudulent billing stemmed from services that in some cases were actually performed by the nursing home, but at inflated prices. State and federal investigators claimed that for a period ranging from 2002 through 2006, Glen Island submitted in excess of sixty thousand fraudulent claims to Medicaid. While occasionally the facility merely excessively billed for services rendered, in a great many others the reimbursements submitted to Medicaid were for services never performed for residents.
After the investigation began, administrators at the facility allegedly forged medical records in an attempt to hide their malfeasance from investigators. After the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit scrubbed these falsified records, two nurses at the facility were convicted for their fraudulent behavior.
This is not the first encounter with the law for Glen Island. In 2011, the administrator of the facility pleaded guilty to grand larceny after conceding that she had falsified records regarding patient care. The administrator received a prison sentence of one to three years in exchange for her plea. Two additional employees of the nursing home pleaded guilty in 2011/2012 to attempted tampering with physical evidence. All three individuals have been excluded from participation in New York’s Medicaid program.
Because Medicaid is both a state and federally funded administration, federal prosecutors assisted the Attorney General’s office with the investigation. As this blog has chronicled frequently in the past, AG Schneiderman has taken a strong stance when it comes to protecting our state’s most vulnerable elderly citizens. The fervor with which his office conducted this investigation makes clear that his office will continue to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who attempt to take advantage of the elderly.
New York will receive approximately $1.3 Million of the funds recovered as part of the settlement.
The full press release from the Attorney General’s office can be found here.