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Chemed Corporation (NYSE: CHE), and its subsidiary VITAS, engaged in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for hospice services for patients who did not qualify for hospice, a class action filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio alleges.
On November 16, 2011, a Bloomberg article entitled, Whistleblower Accuses Chemed Unit of Medicare HMO Conspiracy, revealed that a former VITAS manager had accused Chemed Corporation of defrauding the federal government by conspiring with health insurers to enroll Medicare patients who were not dying into hospice. The whistleblower, who left Vitas in 2009, said the company conspired with the two HMOs to admit their unprofitable patients into hospice, even though they weren’t facing imminent death and thus weren’t eligible for hospice under Medicare rules. In reaction to the news, Chemed Corporation shares fell nearly 12% to $50.65 per share.
The whistleblower’s allegations were unsealed in Dallas federal court, the same venue where the Department of Justice is looking into internal VITAS documents in an investigation relating to alleged abuses of federal health-insurance programs.
If you purchased Chemed Corporation common stock from February 15, 2010 through November 16, 2011, you may file a motion with the court no later than March 12, 2012, and request that the court appoint you as lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. To be appointed lead plaintiff, the court must decide that your claim is typical of the claims of other class members and that you will adequately represent the class. Your share in any recovery will not be enhanced or diminished by your decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You can recover as an absent class member without moving for lead plaintiff. The action discussed here was not filed by Milberg.
If you purchased shares of Chemed Corporation and would like more information regarding this matter, please fill out the form on the right or contact the following attorney:
Andrei Rado, Esq.
Milberg LLP
One Pennsylvania Plaza, 48th Fl.
New York, NY 10119-0165
Phone number: (800) 320-5081
Email: arado@milberg.com
Milberg LLP has been representing individual and institutional investors for more than four decades and serves as lead counsel in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Please visit the Milberg website for more information about the Firm.
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