Dublin hospice pays more than a half million dollars for allegedly filing false Medicare claims

DUBLIN, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Dublin hospice paid a little more than half a million dollars to settle allegations that it submitted false Medicare claims.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney Edward J. Tarver with the Southern District of Georgia, Serenity Hospice Care, LLC along with an affiliate corporation agreed to pay $581,504.46 to settle allegations that it submitted or caused the submission of false claims to the Medicare program from certain patients who were not eligible for hospice under Medicare regulations.

This comes after a whistleblower lawsuit was filed.

“This case demonstrates that the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia is committed to preserving the integrity of the Medicare program,” Tarver said in a statement. “The settlement helps ensure hat the Medicare hospice benefit is used appropriately for patients who truly qualify.”

The attorney for Serenity Hospice Care tells 41NBC the settlement reached with the government specifically denies any wrong doing.

The Medicare hospice benefit is for  patients who elect palliative care, which is designed to relieve the pain, symptoms, or stress of terminal illness instead of curative care, which is designed to cure an illness or condition. It is for patients who have a life expectancy of six months or less if their illness runs its normal course.