The estate of deceased nursing home owner Helen Sieger paid $2.5 million in restitution to New York State Medicaid after Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation and Care Center paid thousands of dollars in kickbacks to a hospital social worker to steer patients to the facility.

Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation (Bronx, NY) — Hospital Social Worker Kickbacks, $2.5M Restitution (2013)

Outcome: The estate of Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation and Care Center owner Helen Sieger paid $2.5 million in restitution to New York State Medicaid after the nursing home paid thousands of dollars in kickbacks to a hospital social worker to steer hospital discharge patients to the facility.

Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation and Care Center in the Bronx, New York, operated under owner Helen Sieger. The facility paid kickbacks to a hospital social worker — who was positioned to influence where discharge patients were placed — to steer those patients to Kingsbridge Heights for post-acute and long-term care. The payments were designed to secure a stream of Medicaid-funded patient referrals in exchange for illegal remuneration.

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the settlement on June 12, 2013. The owner had died before settlement, and the $2.5 million was recovered from Sieger's estate. Hospital social workers hold significant influence over discharge placement decisions, making them a known target for kickback schemes by nursing homes seeking to fill beds. This type of scheme violates both the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and New York state Medicaid anti-fraud laws.

Primary Source: NY AG / OIG Enforcement Record