4 San Diego Nursing Homes To Pay $7M Over Illegal Kickbacks

SAN DIEGO, CA -- Four San Diego-area nursing homes will have to pay nearly $7 million after the U.S. Attorney's Office said employees were allegedly paid kickbacks for patient referrals and submitted fraudulent bills to government health care programs.

The nursing homes, owned by Los Angeles-based Brius Management will pay up to $6.9 million to resolve the allegations, the U.S. Attorney's Office said recently.

The settlement with the four nursing homes resolves an investigation into allegations that their employees paid kickbacks to discharge planners at Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego to induce patient referrals to the nursing homes in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, according to the government agency.

The investigation examined additional allegations made in a “whistleblower” lawsuit that the nursing homes submitted false claims to Medicare and Medi-Cal for services provided to patients referred from Scripps Mercy Hospital.

The four nursing homes involved in the settlement are: Point Loma Convalescent Hospital, Brighton Place – San Diego, Brighton Place – Spring Valley, and Amaya Springs Health Care Center in Spring Valley. These same four nursing homes entered into Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) with the United States Attorney’s Office in San Diego in 2016. In the DPAs, the four entities admitted that nursing home employees conspired to pay kickbacks without the knowledge of Brius Management.

“Kickbacks for patient referrals are illegal under federal law because of the corrupting influence on our nation’s healthcare system,” said Sandra Brown, acting U.S. attorney, in a statement. “This settlement demonstrates our resolve to combat fraud that compromises the care provided to patients served by a government healthcare plan. This case further shows the power of whistleblowers to shine a light on corrupt activities and obtain significant recoveries on behalf of United States taxpayers.”

The four nursing homes have also entered into Corporate Integrity Agreements with the Department of Health and Human Services.

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