In addition to fraud, the Brooklyn-based agency was also cited for cheating aides out of their wages.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has reached two agreements with White Glove Community Care, Inc., (White Glove), a Brooklyn-based home health agency that was recently found to have submitted false claims to Medicaid and underpaid its home health aides. The two agreements are with the Office of the Attorney General's (OAG) Labor Bureau and OAG's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU).
A joint investigation by the OAG and the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) found that White Glove fraudulently obtained over a million dollars in Medicaid funding by submitting false claims and "cheated" its home health aides out of wages they earned. Having admitted to wrongful conduct, White Glove has agreed to pay $2 million in unpaid wages to employees and $1.2 million to the state's Medicaid program.
Of the $1.2 million, approximately $758,425.47 will go to the state of New York, with the remainder going to the federal government.
"Home health aides work tirelessly to provide critical care for our most vulnerable neighbors, and they deserve to receive adequate and fair compensation for their hard work," James said in a statement. "White Glove cheated their employees, and they cheated the everyday New Yorkers whose tax dollars fund the Medicaid program. My office will always stand up against bad actors, and ensure all workers get fair pay for their work."
As part of the agreement, White Glove will revise its policies and procedures; train its personnel on updated policies—subject to OAG's approval—and regularly report staff wages and policy implementations to OAG for three years. Failure to comply with these terms or properly compensating its aides will result in OAG bringing civil action against the agency and $15,000 in damages for "violating its legal obligations."
"The arduous work that these aides do, day after day, ensures that some of our most vulnerable neighbors receive the care and are shown the dignity that they deserve," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. "This settlement—the third in our continuing investigation of certain licensed home care service agencies—reflects this Office's ongoing commitment to providing home health aides the hard-earned benefits guaranteed them under New York law and the Medicaid program."
Jasmyne Ray is the revenue cycle editor at HealthLeaders.