Brooklyn Licensed Home Health Care Services Agency Pays One Million Dollars To Settle Civil Fraud Claims That It Provided Unqualified Home Health Aides To Medicaid Recipients

The United States and New York State have entered into settlement agreements with Parkshore Home Health Care, LLC, d/b/a Renaissance Home Health Care, Inc. (“Renaissance”), a Brooklyn-based licensed home health care services agency. These settlements resolve allegations that Renaissance provided unqualified home health aides to home health agencies, who in turn sent these unqualified aides into the homes of Medicaid recipients throughout New York City and then billed the Medicaid program for their services. Under the terms of the agreements, Renaissance will pay a total of $1,000,000. The settlement was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.

Under the New York State Medicaid program, home health aides – who primarily care for elderly patients, administer medication and provide services such as catheter care, colostomy care and wound care – are required to successfully complete a training program licensed by either the New York State Department of Health or the New York State Education Department. Today’s settlement resolves claims that between 2005 and 2007, Renaissance used home health aides who failed to receive the required training, resulting in Medicaid being billed for hundreds of thousands of dollars of services that these aides were not qualified to provide.

“When companies that provide home health aides fail to take the necessary steps to ensure the proper training for their aides, patients are the ones who can suffer,” said United States Attorney Lynch. “We will continue working to stop health care fraud from being committed on the Medicare and Medicaid programs, especially when the fraud can impact the care received by vulnerable patients.”

“This home health care agency hired workers with false training certificates who then went out into the community and into the homes of the vulnerable and elderly,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “This was preventable and our investigations show that is a recurring problem in home health care. This office will continue to recover Medicaid funds from providers who do not protect the Medicaid program.”

The settlements resolve allegations that were contained in lawsuits filed under the whistleblower provisions of the Federal and New York State False Claims Acts. These provisions allow private citizens to file suit on behalf of the United States and State of New York, respectively, for fraud, and in certain circumstances to share in any recovery. ¹

The United States’ case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin E. Argo and Kelly Horan Florio, who were assisted by Affirmative Civil Enforcement auditor Emily Rosenthal. New York State’s case was handled by Special Assistant Attorney General Jill Brenner.

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¹ In settling this case, Renaissance has not admitted liability.