After eight years of delays, the federal and state governments have intervened in the concealed overpayments lawsuit against two Nashville-based hospice care providers and their parent company. The suit alleges that Nashville-based Avalon Hospice, Brentwood-based Regency Health Care Group and Curo Health Services, along with its parent, pressured staff to “conceal overpayments to maximize census profitability.” The suit also alleges the companies failed to provide physicians with accurate patient information when determining an individual’s eligibility for hospice care, and that Curo audited patient medical records in order to redact words that signaled a patient’s health was improving (which improvement would render them ineligible for further paid care). Whistleblowers from within the companies allege they were fired after expressing concerns about the hospices’ admissions and clinical practices to company executives.

Lieff Cabraser partner and Nashville office Managing Partner Mark Chalos is representing one of the former Avalon employees who initially filed the suit. Chalos told the Nashville Post that taxpayers are “cheated out of billions of dollars” each year by false claims from healthcare companies and other government contractors. “Healthcare companies that rip off taxpayers must be held accountable,” Chalos noted, and further stated that “the conduct alleged here is particularly egregious because it involved one of the most difficult and sacred periods of time: when a family member is reaching the end of life.”

Read the full article at the Nashville Post’s site here (subscription required).

About Mark Chalos

 The managing partner of Lieff Cabraser’s Nashville office, Mark Chalos (@mpchalos) represents individuals who have suffered catastrophic personal injuries and families whose loved ones died due to the negligence or misconduct of others. Mark represents counties and cities across the U.S., as well as Native American tribes and health organizations, in the national opioids litigation. He is serving as part of the national case leadership in these cases, including preparing bellwether cases for trial.

Mark has tried cases to juries and judges around the country. He serves in the leadership of numerous class actions and multidistrict litigations. He is an adjunct professor of law at Vanderbilt University Law School, is a frequent speaker at legal seminars nationwide on a variety of civil litigation topics, and is regularly cited by top-tier media outlets.

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