COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Legal Proceedings - Ongoing

We are involved in legal actions in the normal course of business, some of which seek monetary damages, including claims for punitive damages. Based on information available to us as of the date of this filing, we do not believe that these normal course actions, when finally concluded and determined, will have a material impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Legal fees related to all legal matters are expensed as incurred.

Third Party Audits - Ongoing

From time to time, in the ordinary course of business, we are subject to audits under various governmental programs in which third party firms engaged by CMS, including Recovery Audit Contractors (“RACs”), Zone Program Integrity Contractors (“ZPICs”), Uniform Program Integrity Contractors (“UPICs”), Program Safeguard Contractors (“PSCs”), Medicaid Integrity Contractors (“MICs”), Supplemental Medical Review Contractors (“SMRCs”) and the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”), conduct extensive reviews of claims data to identify potential improper payments. We cannot predict the ultimate outcome of any regulatory reviews or other governmental audits and investigations.

In July 2010, our subsidiary that provides hospice services in Florence, South Carolina received from a ZPIC a request for records regarding a sample of 30 beneficiaries who received services from the subsidiary during the period of January 1, 2008 through March 31, 2010 (the “Review Period”) to determine whether the underlying services met pertinent Medicare payment requirements. We acquired the hospice operations subject to this review on August 1, 2009; the Review Period covered time periods both before and after our ownership of these hospice operations. Based on the ZPIC’s findings for 16 beneficiaries, which were extrapolated to all claims for hospice services provided by the Florence subsidiary billed during the Review Period, on June 6, 2011, the Medicare Administrative Contractor (“MAC”) for the subsidiary issued a notice of overpayment seeking recovery from our subsidiary of an alleged overpayment. We disputed these findings, and our Florence subsidiary filed appeals through the Original Medicare Standard Appeals Process, in which we sought to have those findings overturned. An administrative law judge ("ALJ") hearing was held in early January 2015. On January 18, 2016, we received a letter referencing the ALJ hearing decision for the overpayment issued on June 6, 2011. The decision was partially favorable with a new overpayment amount of $3.7 million with a balance owed of $5.6 million, including interest, based on 9 disputed claims (originally 16). We filed an appeal to the Medicare Appeals Council on the remaining 9 disputed claims and also argued that the statistical method used to select the sample was not valid. No assurances can be given as to the timing or outcome of the Medicare Appeals Council decision. As of June 30, 2024, Medicare has withheld payments of $5.7 million (including additional interest) as part of their standard procedures once this level of the appeal process has been reached. In the event we are not able to recoup this alleged overpayment, we are entitled to be indemnified by the prior owners of the hospice operations for amounts relating to the period prior to August 1, 2009. On January 10, 2019, an arbitration panel from the American Health Lawyers Association determined that the prior owners' liability for their indemnification obligation was $2.8 million. This amount is recorded as an indemnity receivable within other assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

In July 2016, the Company received a request for medical records from SafeGuard Services, L.L.C (“SafeGuard”), a ZPIC, related to services provided by some of the care centers that the Company acquired from Infinity Home Care, L.L.C. The review period covered time periods both before and after our ownership of the care centers, which were acquired on December 31, 2015. In August 2017, the Company received Requests for Repayment from Palmetto GBA, LLC ("Palmetto") regarding Infinity Home Care of Lakeland, LLC ("Lakeland Care Centers") and Infinity Home Care of Pinellas, LLC ("Clearwater Care Center"). The Palmetto letters were based on a statistical extrapolation performed by SafeGuard which alleged an overpayment of $34.0 million for the Lakeland Care Centers on a universe of 72 Medicare claims totaling $0.2 million in actual claims payments and an overpayment of $4.8 million for the Clearwater Care Center on a universe of 70 Medicare claims totaling $0.2 million in actual claims payments.

As a result of partially successful Level I and Level II Administrative Appeals, the alleged overpayment for the Lakeland Care Centers was reduced to $26.0 million, and the alleged overpayment for the Clearwater Care Center was reduced to $3.3 million. The Company filed Level III Administrative Appeals, and the ALJ hearings regarding the Lakeland Request for Repayment and the Clearwater Request for Repayment were held in April 2022. The Company received the results of the ALJ hearings in June 2022. The ALJ decisions for both the Clearwater Care Center and the Lakeland Care Centers were partially favorable for the claims that were reviewed, but the extrapolations were upheld. As a result, we increased our total accrual related to these

matters from $17.4 million to $25.2 million, excluding interest. The repayments for the Lakeland Care Centers totaling $34.3 million ($22.8 million extrapolated repayment plus $11.5 million accrued interest) and the Clearwater Care Center totaling $3.7 million ($2.4 million extrapolated repayment plus $1.2 million accrued interest) were made during the year ended December 31, 2022. Additionally, we wrote off $1.5 million of receivables that were impacted by these matters. We expect to be indemnified by the prior owners, upon exhaustion of the parties' appeal rights, for approximately $10.9 million and have recorded this amount within other assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Insurance

We are obligated for certain costs associated with our insurance programs, including employee health, workers’ compensation, professional liability and fleet. While we maintain various insurance programs to cover these risks, we are self-insured for a substantial portion of our potential claims. We recognize our obligations associated with these costs, up to specified deductible limits in the period in which a claim is incurred, including with respect to both reported claims and claims incurred but not reported. These costs have generally been estimated based on historical data of our claims experience. Such estimates, and the resulting reserves, are reviewed and updated by us on a quarterly basis.

Our health insurance has an exposure limit of $1.5 million for any individual covered life. Our workers’ compensation insurance has a retention limit of $2.0 million per incident. Our professional liability insurance has a retention limit of $0.3 million per incident. Our fleet insurance has an exposure limit of $0.5 million per accident.