Health care firm to pay $5.6M to settle billing allegations

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A home health care company will pay millions to settle allegations that it submitted false bills to Medicare and Iowa’s Medicaid program.

The Des Moines Register reports (http://dmreg.co/1Cgs30z ) that ResCare Iowa will pay $5.6 million in a settlement announced Tuesday by the U.S. attorney’s office in Cedar Rapids. The company is a subsidiary of ResCare Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky.

Prosecutors say ResCare Iowa violated a Medicaid and Medicare rule that an independent physician must verify in a "face-to-face" assessment that a person needs in-home care.

Spokeswoman Nel Taylor told the newspaper that an outside auditor hired by ResCare found the documentation problems and that ResCare disclosed the problems to the government.

The company provides services aimed at helping elderly people and people with disabilities stay in their homes.

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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com

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