COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Health Care Organizations [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Professional Liability and Other Liability Insurance

The Company has professional liability insurance coverage for its nursing centers that, based on historical claims experience, is likely to be substantially less than the claims that are expected to be incurred. Effective July 1, 2013, the Company established a wholly-owned, offshore limited purpose insurance subsidiary, SHC Risk Carriers, Inc. (“SHC”), to replace some of the expiring commercial policies. SHC covers losses up to specified limits per occurrence. All of the Company's nursing centers in Florida, and Tennessee are now covered under the captive insurance policies along with many of the nursing centers in Alabama, Ohio

and Texas, as well as those previously operated by the Company in Kentucky. The insurance coverage provided for these centers under the SHC policy provides coverage limits of at least $1,000 per medical incident with a sublimit per center of $3,000 and total annual aggregate policy limits of $5,000. All other centers within the Company's portfolio are covered through various commercial insurance policies which provide similar coverage limits per medical incident, per location, and on an aggregate basis for covered centers. The deductibles for these policies are covered through the insurance subsidiary.

Reserve for Estimated Self-Insured Professional Liability Claims

Because the Company’s actual liability for existing and anticipated professional liability and general liability claims will likely exceed the Company’s limited insurance coverage, the Company has recorded total liabilities for reported and estimated future claims of $25,584 and $27,390 as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. This accrual includes estimates of liability for incurred but not reported claims, estimates of liability for reported but unresolved claims, actual liabilities related to settlements, including settlements to be paid over time, and estimates of legal costs related to these claims. All losses are projected on an undiscounted basis and are presented without regard to any potential insurance recoveries. Amounts are added to the accrual for estimates of anticipated liability for claims incurred during each period, and amounts are deducted from the accrual for settlements paid on existing claims during each period.

The Company evaluates the adequacy of this liability on a quarterly basis. Semi-annually, the Company retains a third-party actuarial firm to assist in the evaluation of this reserve. Since May 2012, the actuary has assisted management in the preparation of the appropriate accrual for incurred but not reported general and professional liability claims based on data furnished as of May 31 and November 30 of each year. The actuary primarily utilizes historical data regarding the frequency and cost of the Company’s past claims over a multi-year period, industry data and information regarding the number of occupied beds to develop its estimates of the Company’s ultimate professional liability cost for current periods.

On a quarterly basis, the Company obtains reports of asserted claims and lawsuits incurred. These reports, which are provided by the Company’s insurers and a third-party claims administrator, contain information relevant to the actual expense already incurred with each claim as well as the third-party administrator’s estimate of the anticipated total cost of the claim. This information is reviewed by the Company quarterly and provided to the actuary semi-annually. Based on the Company’s evaluation of the actual claims information obtained, the semi-annual estimates received from the third-party actuary, the amounts paid and committed for settlements of claims and on estimates regarding the number and cost of additional claims anticipated in the future, the reserve estimate for a particular period may be revised upward or downward on a quarterly basis. Any increase in the accrual decreases results of operations in the period and any reduction in the accrual increases results of operations during the period.

As of September 30, 2020, the Company is engaged in 82 professional liability lawsuits. Twenty-two lawsuits are currently scheduled for trial or arbitration during the next twelve months, and it is expected that additional cases will be set for trial or hearing. The Company’s cash expenditures for self-insured professional liability costs were $5,136 and $5,398 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

The Company follows the accounting guidance in ASC Topic 954 that clarifies that a health care entity should not net insurance recoveries against a related professional liability claim and that the amount of the claim liability should be determined without consideration of insurance recoveries. Accordingly, the estimated insurance recovery receivables are included within "Self-insurance receivables, current portion" and "other noncurrent assets" on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. As of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 there are estimated insurance recovery receivables of $686 and $1,011 in "Self-insurance receivables, current portion" and $155 and $1,555 in "other noncurrent assets," respectively.

Although the Company adjusts its accrual for professional and general liability claims on a quarterly basis and retains a third-party actuarial firm semi-annually to assist management in estimating the appropriate accrual, professional and general liability claims are inherently uncertain, and the liability associated with anticipated claims is very difficult to estimate. Any potential claims or settlements related to COVID-19 are uncertain at this time. Professional liability cases have a long cycle from the date of an incident to the date a case is resolved, and final determination of the Company’s actual liability for claims incurred in any given period is a process that takes years. As a result, the Company’s actual liabilities may vary significantly from the accrual, and the amount of the accrual has and may continue to fluctuate by a material amount in any given period. Each change in the amount of this accrual will directly affect the Company’s reported earnings and financial position for the period in which the change in accrual is made.

Civil Investigative Demand ("CID")

In February 2020, we entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Tennessee of actions alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act in connection with our provision of therapy and the completion of certain resident admission forms. This settlement resolved an investigation that had begun in 2012 and covers the time period from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2015. This agreement requires annual payments for a period of five years ending in February 2025 and also requires a contingent payment in the event the Company sells any of its owned facilities during the five-year payment period. Relative to the settlement agreement, the Company paid $500 during the first quarter of 2020, and

the Company has included $1,000 and $8,000 within "Other current liabilities" and "Government Settlement Accrual", respectively, on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2020. Failure to make timely any of these payments could result in rescission of the settlement and result in the government having a very large claim against us, including penalties, and/or make us ineligible to participate in certain government funded healthcare programs, any of which could in turn significantly harm our business and financial condition.

In conjunction with the settlement of the government investigation related to our therapy practices, we entered into a corporate integrity agreement ("CIA") with the Office of the Inspector General of CMS. The CIA has a term of five years and imposes material burdens on the Company, its officers and directors to take actions designed to ensure compliance with applicable healthcare laws, including requirements to maintain specific compliance positions within the Company, to report any non-compliance with the terms of the CIA, to return any overpayments received, to submit annual reports and for an annual audit of submitted claims by an independent review organization. The CIA sets forth penalties for non-compliance by the Company with the terms of the agreement, including possible exclusion from federally funded healthcare programs for material violations of the agreement.

Other Insurance

With respect to workers’ compensation insurance, substantially all of the Company’s employees are covered under either a prefunded deductible policy or state-sponsored programs. The Company has been and remains a non-subscriber to the Texas workers’ compensation system and, therefore, is completely self-insured for employee injuries with respect to its Texas operations. From the period from July 1, 2008 through September 30, 2020, the Company is covered by a prefunded deductible policy. Under this prefunded policy, the Company is self-insured for the first $500 per claim, subject to an aggregate maximum of $3,000. The Company funds a loss fund account with the insurer to pay for claims below the deductible. The Company accounts for premium expense under this policy based on its estimate of the level of claims subject to the policy deductibles expected to be incurred. The liability for workers’ compensation claims was $520 and $921 at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. The Company has a non-current receivable for workers’ compensation policies covering previous years of $2,101 and $1,575 which is included in "other noncurrent assets" on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. The non-current receivable is a function of payments paid to the Company’s insurance carrier in excess of the estimated level of claims expected to be incurred. Any potential claims or settlements related to COVID-19 are uncertain at this time.

As of September 30, 2020, the Company is self-insured for health insurance benefits for certain employees and dependents for amounts up to $200 per individual annually. The Company provides reserves for the settlement of outstanding self-insured health claims at amounts believed to be adequate. The liability for reported claims and estimates for incurred but unreported claims was $2,487 and $1,810 at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. The differences between actual settlements and reserves are included in expense in the period finalized. Any potential claims or settlements related to COVID-19 are uncertain at this time.