A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Extendicare Health Services Inc, and its subsidiary Progressive Step Corporation who are accused of billing government medical assistance programs for materially substandard and inadequate nursing home care provided to residents.
The settlement details are as follows; the federal government will receive $32.3 million and the eight state Medicaid programs will receive $5.7 million. The settlement also resolves the cases filed by 2 whistleblowers who will recieve $1.8 million and $260,000 of the government’s settlement.
Filed in April 2010, the originally filed whistleblower lawsuit alleged that Extendicare billed Medicare and Medicaid for medically unreasonable and unnecessary rehabilitation therapy services between 2007 and 2013, as well as providing poor care, which led to multiple reports of nursing home neglect, including falls, dehydration reports, malnutrition, and failure to provide adequate catheter care to residents.