Alta Vista Healthcare & Wellness Centre, LLC, Kickback Scheme, California 2023

California Skilled Nursing Facility Settles Kickback Allegations for $3.825 Million

A Riverside-based skilled nursing facility and its management company have agreed to pay $3.825 million to settle allegations of kickbacks to doctors, announced United States Attorney Martin Estrada today.

Alta Vista Healthcare & Wellness Centre, LLC, and its management company, Rockport Healthcare Services, settled a whistleblower case that alleged they submitted and caused the submission of false claims to Medicare and Medicaid by paying kickbacks to physicians.

The lawsuit in this matter was unsealed on June 16, 2023.

The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering or paying remuneration to induce the referral of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded programs. It is intended to ensure that medical decision-making is not compromised by improper financial incentives and is instead based on the best interests of the patient.

From 2009 through 2019, Alta Vista, under the direction and control of Rockport, gave certain physicians extravagant gifts, including expensive dinners for the physicians and their spouses, golf trips, limousine rides, massages, e-reader tablets, and gift cards worth up to $1,000. Separately, Alta Vista paid these physicians monthly stipends of $2,500 to $4,000, purportedly for their services as medical directors.

“The administrators and beneficiaries of the Medicare and Medicaid programs expect that providers will make decisions based on sound medical judgment, not their personal self-interest,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “As this case demonstrates, our office will take decisive action to address allegations that medical providers are paying or receiving improper financial benefits that could impact care provided to patients.”

The settlement announced today stems from a whistleblower complaint filed in 2015 by former Alta Vista accounting employee Neyirys Ortiz.

Defendant: Alta Vista Healthcare & Wellness Centre, LLC

Criminal Charges: Paying kickbacks to physicians to induce patient referrals

City and State: Riverside, California

Date: Unsealed on June 16, 2023

Sentence: $3.825 million settlement

Dollar Amounts: $3,228,300 to the United States and $596,700 to California

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