Two Home Health Providers Agree to Pay $702,541 to Resolve Self-Referral Allegations

MIAMI - Medical Services of America, Inc. and Traditional Home Care, Inc., doing business as Community Home Health Services, have agreed to pay $702,541.20 to resolve allegations that they violated the Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law, by making bonus payments to an employee based on the number of patient referrals made by the employee's spouse, a physician.

"The Stark Law exists to ensure that medical decisions are driven by patient need - not financial relationships," said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. "When providers violate that principle, they undermine trust in the Medicare system and unfairly profit at the expense of taxpayers. This resolution reinforces our commitment to protecting the integrity of federal healthcare programs."

The Stark Law prohibits entities from submitting claims to Medicare for certain designated health services that result from referrals by a physician who has a financial interest with the entity, unless a specific exception applies. Here, the physician's spouse was employed by Community Home Health Services, and the alleged conduct did not meet any Stark Law exception.

The alleged misconduct occurred from February 2017 through February 2025 and involved a physician referring Medicare beneficiaries to Community Home Health Services for designated health services. Community Home Health Services then allegedly furnished those services and submitted claims to Medicare for reimbursement.

Of the $702,541.20 settlement amount, $379,752 will be paid as restitution.

The allegations arose from a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower, Javier Figueroa, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private individuals to bring lawsuits on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. Figueroa will receive approximately $126,457 from the settlement announced today.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jesus Barranco of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Miami Regional Office, announced the settlement.

HHS-OIG Miami investigated the matter.

Assistant U.S. Attorney H. Ron Davidson and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Cheek handled the litigation.

Note: See the settlement agreement here.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link., under case number 23-cv-81328.

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