ALBANY, N.Y. – The owner of 44 nursing home facilities, including locations in the Capital Region, Central New York and the Hudson Valley, will pay more than $6 million for making false statements on Medicare cost reports, U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III said Tuesday.

Centers Health Care is paying $6,063,500 because 44 of its skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) submitted false reports, or reports that omitted material information, Sarcone said. SNFs are required to submit cost reports to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

The affected facilities are located in Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Warren, Washington, Ulster, Essex, Fulton, Jefferson, Oneida, Onondaga and Otsego counties, as well as Rhode Island, Kansas and Missouri, he said. 

“Taxpayer dollars fund nursing homes,” said Sarcone. “I expect that nursing homes will truthfully account for how they spend those dollars, which are entrusted to them to care for our elderly and most vulnerable citizens.” 

“When nursing home operators knowingly submit false information in cost reports, they undermine the integrity of federal health care programs and misuse taxpayer dollars,” said Special Agent in Charge Linda Hanley of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.