Emeritus Corp. Paying $979,000 to Settle Overbilling Claims

SEATTLE (AP) — The assisted living chain Emeritus Corp. has agreed to pay nearly $1 million to settle claims that it overbilled state and federal governments for Medicaid services.

Seattle U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes said Monday the company will pay $587,000 to the federal government and nearly $392,000 to be split among 18 states where the company had facilities. Emeritus was based in Seattle before being acquired by Brookdale Senior Living Inc., of Brentwood, Tennessee, in 2014.

Emeritus did not admit wrongdoing under the terms of the deal, but investigators said that from 2008 to 2014 the company failed to refund overpayments from Medicaid.

Prosecutors said the investigation began when a former employee used an online hotline to report that the company systematically "wrote off" the overpayments, rather than refunding them, because of limitations in its accounting software.