California is Suing Brookdale Senior Living Over Alleged Medicare ‘Manipulation’
California prosecutors on Monday filed a lawsuit against Brookdale Senior Living, the state’s largest nursing home chain, accusing it of manipulating ratings on the federal government’s rating system, as well as illegally discharging patients.
The New York Times reports that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, President Biden‘s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, filed the lawsuit along with other prosecutors in the Superior Court in California. They accuse Brookdale of winning “undeserved higher star ratings” up until April 2018 by submitting false reports about its staff members.
The company is accused of also illegally evicting or transferring patients in order to “fill its beds with residents who will bring in more money,” the Times reports. Prosecutors said Brookdale once discharged a 78-year-old resident with heart and kidney disease without removing his catheter.
