The Ensign Group Inc, which operates assisted living and rehabilitation facilities, said it has agreed to a proposed $48 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over claims the company overbilled Medicare. The settlement would conclude a Justice Department probe of the billing and reimbursement practices of some of Ensign's subsidiaries and would mark the latest in a series of deals by the agency stemming from healthcare fraud investigations. Last year the Justice Department opened 1,131 new criminal healthcare fraud investigations and found 826 defendants guilty of crimes, according to a statement it issued in February.
