• New report from US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General raises serious concerns about questionable Medicare billing practices among for-profit nursing home chains
• OIG's warning echoes concerns SEIU nursing home workers raised about Medicare overbilling at North American Health Care (NAHC) nursing homes last year
• Previous media coverage in the Washington Post raised issues of possible abuse at major chains like NAHC and HCR Manor Care

WASHINGTON, DC -- Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) issued the following statement today regarding the recently released report by Daniel Levinson, Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services, recommending stronger monitoring and enforcement against potential fraud by the for-profit nursing home industry.

"SEIU nursing home workers are very pleased that Inspector General Levinson has taken this important step in strengthening the monitoring and enforcement of Medicare fraud within the for-profit nursing home industry.

"Now that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have adopted the majority of these recommendations, frontline workers, residents, and taxpayers can look forward to more accountability in our country's nursing homes. For-profit nursing home companies are now on notice that the use shady tactics to shortchange residents and families will not be tolerated.

"We also applaud Representative Pete Stark, who requested this investigation after analysis by SEIU brought to his attention the dramatic and disproportionate increases in Medicare billing by the North American Health Care Corporation. Details of this analysis were verified by the Washington Post.

"Inspector General Levinson's finding that for-profit nursing home companies increased Medicare billing from $5.7 to $10.7 billion between 2006 and 2008 displays a clear pattern of abuse that is cause for alarm to all taxpayers. And it underscores the importance of President Obama's commitment to cut health care costs by cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse.

"Through the smart application of analytic tools with available data, we can root out those nursing home companies who are overcharging the American taxpayer billions of dollars a year. This is how we save taxpayer money while providing efficient and quality care.

"It is time for-profit nursing home companies like North American Health Care, which bills 64% of its patients in the highest Medicare categories --compared with a national average of 9%-- to make a full accounting to the American taxpayers as to where and how our money is being spent.

With 2.2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy.

"

###