A home-health services company based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, has agreed to pay $45,486.76 to settle civil False Claims Act allegations related to allegedly fraudulent billings for purported work by a recently convicted felon under their employ. Professional Family Care Services, Inc. (“PFCS”) provides, among other things, home-health services to patients in southeastern North Carolina, including to veterans of the United States Armed Forces. During 2015 and 2016, PFCS billed the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) for home-health services purportedly provided to W.R., an Army veteran, even though, at that time, W.R. was actually residing with the company’s employee, Certified Nurse Aide Tracey McNeill. The evidence showed that PFCS based its billing for those services on falsified timesheets provided by Ms. McNeill, who failed to provide both the time and quality of care required under the VA program. In some instances, Ms. McNeill submitted blatantly inconsistent timesheets indicating that she was providing services to W.R. and another patient at the exact same times.
After several months living with Ms. McNeill and while purportedly receiving home-health services provided by Ms. McNeill through PFCS, W.R. had to be admitted to the hospital with severe bedsores. Evidence showed that he was extremely malnourished, and he ultimately died within a few days of his admission. Nevertheless, PFCS submitted fifteen separate claim forms seeking payment from the VA for services purportedly provided by Ms. McNeill to W.R. between October 2015 and December 2016, resulting in payment by the VA of $11,273.92. The federal False Claims Act, however, mandates that the government recover three times the damages caused by the fraud, plus civil penalties for false or fraudulent claims. PFCS agreed to pay $45,486.76 to resolve the claims. Earlier in 2021, Ms. McNeill was convicted of wire fraud for her misconduct related to W.R., was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison, and was ordered to pay over $90,000 in restitution.
